St. Mary’s Parish was originally established in 1850 to serve the growing pastoral needs in Anderson.  A proposed canal, natural gas pipeline, and railroad boom brought great numbers of Irish, German and Polish immigrants to the area between the mid and the late 1800s.  Many of them were Roman Catholics.  

Masses for the growing Catholic population were initially celebrated in a log tavern located near the corner of what is now 9th Street and Central Avenue, but were eventually moved a couple of blocks to the southeast to the city burying ground at Fletcher Street and 10th Street.   The congregation also celebrated open air Masses in an undeveloped prairie southeast of town beyond 16th Street between about between circa 1840 and 1858. Although the cornerstone and foundation of the first St. Mary’s church was laid in 1858, construction was delayed by the Civil War and the church was not completed until 1864.    The first small brick church was located on the site of the current church.   

In 1870, due to growth of the congregation, the lot on the southeast corner of 11th Street and Fletcher Street was purchased for $1,000 with plans of erecting a new and larger church building.  Building designs were developed and about $12,000 was raised for the construction of the church over the next five years.  

On Sunday, July 4, 1875, the congregation gathered at the site of the planned church to lay the cornerstone.   The event drew delegations of Catholics from throughout Indiana, including Indianapolis, Union City, Logansport, Kokomo, Vincennes and Fort Wayne, nearly doubling the population of Anderson during the event.  

Construction was completed and the new church was dedicated on May 29, 1877.   The building faced Fletcher Street and measured approximately 100 ft by 40 ft, with a 160 ft tall steeple tower which was taller than the current church’s steeple.  Father Weichman was the first resident priest.  During the week, the interior of the church was divided into a three-room schoolhouse by hanging curtains.  Lay teachers taught St. Mary’s parochial school from 1860 until five sisters from the Holy Cross Order arrived in 1875/1879 and took over teaching responsibilities. 

The congregation quickly outgrew the church and another building was needed.  The cornerstone of the current church was laid on July 9, 1893.  Following construction, at a cost of approximately $41,000, it was dedicated by Bishop Joseph Rademacher on October 6, 1895.  Father D.J. Mulcahy served as pastor and Father Moran as the first assistant.  The former Fletcher Street church was then renovated for primary use as a school.   

Between 1879 and the early 1900s the school expanded to serve grades one through twelve and gradually outgrew the old church building.  St. Mary’s school building was constructed circa 1923.   Following the opening of the new school the old church was eventually razed.  The current school annex is located roughly where the old church stood. 

In 1911, Father Mulcahy died, and Father Mongoven served as pastor until his death in 1917. Father Travers, later Monsignor Travers, then became pastor and stayed until his retirement in 1955.  During his tenure he was responsible for the development of the convent on Pearl Street.  Father Francis Kienly followed Msgr. Travers as pastor.

In the 1950s, Bishop Emeritus William Higi left St. Mary’s High School (currently Holy Cross School’s North Campus) in his junior year to become a priest.

In 1966 the Holy Cross Sisters left Anderson and the shortage of nuns to assist with teaching and financial difficulties forced the closing of the High School portion of St. Mary School.   

Father Joseph Ruffing came to St. Mary’s as co-pastor in 1971 and remained pastor when Father Kienly retired in 1976.  The original convent on Pearl St. was remodeled to serve as the rectory and the old rectory was torn down.  Additional land was acquired to the north and south of the school to be used as parking lots and playgrounds for students.  

Father Robert Williams came to St. Mary’s as pastor July 3, 1984, and redecoration project was completed in 1985. Father Williams assumed the pastoral responsibilities for both St. Mary’s and St. Ambrose in Anderson in 2008.  In 2013 Monsignor Robert Sell became the senior pastor for both St. Mary’s and St. Ambrose.  

In 2017 St. Mary School and St. Ambrose School were rededicated as Holy Cross school, honoring the legacy of the nuns who had dedicated themselves to parochial education in Anderson and to unify the education program between the two parishes. 

Between 2017 and 2019, significant maintenance was performed on the exterior of the church to in part rectify some water intrusion and normal wear of the building’s masonry, roofing and storm water guttering.   

The current pastoral staff came to St. Mary’s in August 2020 as part of the Lafayette Diocese Uniting in Heart initiative, joining St. Mary’s, St. Ambrose and St. Mary’s Alexandria into a combined pastorate.

Sources:

Fredericks, Wanda, 1966, The growth of the Catholic Church in Anderson, Indiana, in Relation to National, State, and Local History.

Jackson, Stephen T., July 5, 2015, Laying of St. Mary’s Cornerstone Brought Thousands to Anderson, Herald Bulletin.