St Philip Catholic Church - Franklin, TN - Tennessee Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Marker outlining the history of nearby St Philip Roman Catholic Church.

Marker is located in front of the church on the south side of Main Street in downtown Franklin. Plenty of parking available, except during Sunday Masses.

Marker text reads:

Missionary priests first celebrated Mass in Franklin
in 1821 in a private home for the two resident Catholic
families. The Nashville bishopric planned a Catholic
church in Williamson County as early as 1843, but it was
the influx of Irish Catholic railroad workers after the
Civil War that energized the effort to establish Saint
Philip Catholic Church in 1871. The workers hand-formed
and fired the church's bricks on site and did all of the
construction themselves. Until 1898 the church had mission
status with Father James Orengo of Italy as the first
mission priest. Early notable pastors include Timothy Abbott,
the first Tennessean ordained to the priesthood and John
Hardeman, the first Williamson Countian ordained to the
priesthood.

Father John Nolan built a rectory in 1898 and thus the
church became a parish with a resident priest. Fr. Nolan,
a talented woodcarver, decorated both the church and the
rectory with his own carvings. In 1921 at the Golden Jubilee
descendants of many of the church's founders donated the
stained glass, St. Philip reverted to a mission during World
War II as the congregation shrank, then regained parish
status in 1946. Rapid growth began in the 1960s as the
congregation rose from 53 to 212 families. Today the original
building serves as a chapel, while the 1997 1,100 seat
sanctuary accommodates a thriving congregation. Early family
names were Dempsey, Shea, Doyle, Hagerty, Finn, Kernahan,
Riley, Lyons, Mulloy, Sheehan and Smith.

Marker Name: St. Philip Catholic Church Marker Location: City Type of Marker: Building Marker Number: N/A Group(s) Responsible for placing Marker: Williamson County Historical Society 2010

Visit Instructions:
At minimum, your visit must consist of a picture of the marker itself or anything referenced on the marker plus additional information you may have learned about the waymark topic. (You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture, but can.)

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   05/16/2023 Don.Morfe visited it