One of the longest NRHP nomination forms that I've read so far, in part because the historic significance is built around the "event" of the cultural development of the Irish Catholic community in this area.
The story begins suscinctly: "Between 1810 and 1820 a band of Irish immigrants, under the leadership of Felix McQuire, came to Charlotte (West Rochester, an industrial village on the west bank of the Genesee River delta) by way of Canada. Unlike the unskilled workers who worked in the blast furnaces and on the waterfront in Charlotte, McQuire's band of immigrants was a relatively prosperous group of farmers who had chosen to leave Ireland decades before the Potato famines of the 1840s forced millions of Irish from their impoverished homeland. Rather than live among these working-class Irish Catholics in Charlotte, McQuire and his men moved into the wilderness about two and one-half miles to the west of the industrialized Genesee River basin.
"Unlike later generations of immigrants, these Irish farmers were able to purchase vast tracts of fertile land and to establish themselves quickly as prosperous husbandmen. For example, one early settler bought fifty acres upon his arrival and shortly thereaftere added one hundred and fifty more. By the second quarter of the century, orchards crowned Paddy Hill and the farms prospered. Very few of the early settlers chose to leave for other places; marriages between the tightly knot families created a natural increase in the community's population, while the continued influx of Irish immigrants swelled the population even further." (
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Before any catholic churches were established, some very devoted Catholics traveled to Albany once a year to receive the sacraemnt on Easter. Beyond that, they met informally in private homes.
In 1823, St. Patricks was build, with members of the Greece community participating in the erection of that church, going to Rochester for Sunday services. The oldest gravestone in the historic cemetery is 1823.
Still, Rochester was a long trip for farmers, whose chores could not wait. "Under the leadership of McQuire, they started their own chapel in 1829. The crest of the hill (i.e., the intersection of Latta Road with Mount Read Boulevard) was selected becasue they envisioned that an entire, self-contained town would grow up around the church."
The original wooden church was erected, between 1829 and 1830, on a large tract of land donated by Judge Nicholas Read, a very early and prominent settler in Greece, and who remained the greatest benefactor of the church for then next half-century. Although officially named St. Ambrose, most people called it "The Church in the Wood", which is what the local Indians, who also worshiped there.
In 1855, Rev. Father John M. Maurice (of French origin) was sent to the Buffalo Diocese (the Rochester Dioces had not yet been established) to serve St. Ambrose. He was apparently not satisfied with this first church, as he immediately made plans to build a new brick church. The old church was moved down the hill and converted into a residence for the pastor. A large stone cross was erected on the spot of the original church in the middle of the original cemetary.
The cornerstone of the second church, dedicated and renamed Our Mother of Sorrows, was laid in 1859 and completed in 1878 with the erection of the tower and steeple. Over the next centruy, the congregation and community prospered and the complex expanded throught the mid- to late twentieth century. A convent, a parochial school,, and finally, a much larger church (just south of the historic church and cemetary). The congregation and local authorities collaborated in the adaptive re-use of the original church as a public library.
"The building remains a testimony to the architectural, historical and cultural heritage of Paddy Hill and survives as one of a very few historic architectural landmarks in the entire town of Greece."
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Bishop O’Hern celebrated the Mass in the Church on June 8, 1930, while most of the 5000 people heard Mass in the cemetery south of the Church. Gov. and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt came to participate in the festivities. (
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