Diocesan records explain how the Rev. Gabriel Druittelles, a Jesuit missionary from Quebec with help of the English, built a chapel in 1646 at Gilley’s point, about three miles north of Augusta on the Kennebec River and dedicated it to St. Mary of the Assumption.

One hundred and seventy five years later in 1820, Catholics from Ireland were attracted to the Cushnoc Heights with the prospect of finding work in the lumbering business, building a dam on the Kennebec River and a capital building for the state of Maine.

In 1832, the pastor of St. Denis Church in Whitefield, the Rev. Denis Ryan was given the responsibility of caring for the Catholics in Augusta. Many would walk from Augusta to Whitefield for Sunday Mass.

The Catholic population was growing at a fast pace and in 1836, Fr. Ryan purchased the Unitarian Church on the site of the present Cony Flat Iron Building on the east side of the river for St. Mary Church. Ten years later, the Rev. Patrick Carraher purchased land and build a new St. Mary Church on the west side of the river. The new St. Mary Church on State Street was dedicated September 8, 1846.

The Rev. James O’Reilly succeeded Fr. Carraher and the first St. Mary rectory was built in 1847. Following his re-assignment, Catholics in Augusta were once again without a resident pastor and became the responsibility of St. Denis Church for the next five years.

In 1865, the Rev. Egan was appointed the second resident pastor of St. Mary. His tenure was for 13 years and he met the needs of Catholics in Gardiner and Hallowell and, from time to time, the needs of the Catholics in Bath, Brunswick, Waterville and Damariscotta. It was also during this period he built the original wooden St. Joseph Church in Gardiner—though it would be several years before it would have a resident pastor. For a few years, according to Diocesan records, there was an ongoing shuffling of priests and changing responsibilities, including the Reverends Eugene O’Callaghan, Raphael Wissel, brothers Dan and John Murphy, John P. Nelligan and Adolphe O. Lacroix.

In 1878, Fr. Dan Murphy enlarged St. Mary’s original wooden church, added a steeple to it and built Sacred Heart Church in Hallowell.

The Rev. Charles Doherty was appointed pastor of St. Mary on July 6, 1886, and reduced the parish debt to zero in 10 years. During this same time, a pipe organ was purchased costing $1,800 and land for a parish cemetery was also purchased. At the suggestion of Bishop Healy, Fr. Doherty explored the possibility of having a parochial school within two years.

On March 8, 1887, Bishop Healy officially dedicated St. Mary Church of the Assumption in memory of the first Indian chapel built 220 years earlier on the Kennebec River. Fr. Lacroix aws named assistant for St. Mary with specific instructions to look after the French Canadians whose numbers were increasing daily. The French Canadians separated from St. Mary on November 2, 1887, when Bishop Healy established St. Augustine Parish.

The Rev. Thomas J. Nelligan was appointed pastor of St. Mary, July 23, 1910 and built the first St. Mary School in 1914 along with a convent to house the sisters who ran the new school with an enrollment of 116 children. He also purchased the Kinsman property on Western Avenue for $15,000 and renoated both the church and rectory. The Rev. Thomas J. McLaughlin, having been discharged as a chaplain during World War I, was appointed pastor April 1, 1919, following Fr. Nelligan’s transfer to pastor at St. John Church in Bangor.

Fr. McLaughlin purchased additional property on the corner of Lincoln and Sewall Streets. Six year later, on May 6, 1926, ground was broken for a new and much larger St. Mary Church. Bishop John G. Murray laid the cornerstone on October 3, 1926 and dedicated the church on May 30, 1927.

Fr. McLaughlin died in December 1941 and the Rev. Thomas J. O’Dowd was appointed pastor. It took nearly 20 years to raise funds before the new St. Mary School was built. The 15-room, $700,000 school was dedicated on March 5, 1961.

The Rev. Thomas Nelligan (nephew of the former pastor Nelligan) was appointed pastor following the death of Fr. O’Dowd. He faced several challenges during his tenure, including changes in the life and worship of the church following Vatican Council II. The building of a new St. Mary rectory, the liturgical celebration of the Mass in the vernacular with priests facing the people and having parish councils with laity involvement of several commissions proved new and different for both priests and parishioners.

In 1968, Bishop Peter L. Gerety established St. Andrew as a new parish on the east side of the river. Two hundred sixty families from St. Mary Church became parishioners of St. Andrew Church. St. Mary Church as undergone both interior and exterior repairs and renovations during the pastorate of Fathers John Shorty and Paul Kerns. Parishioners raised $1 million for a capital fund campaign and Bishop Joseph J. Gerry, OSB, rededicated the 66 year old St. Mary of the Assumption Church on October 3, 1993.
The English-Gothic Church is on the National Register of Historic Buildings.