Old Holy Face Church - Cecil's Mill Historic District - St. Mary's County MD - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings on Waymarking.com

In the late 19th century, St. Mary's County in Maryland had a large Catholic population, but no church in the Great Mills area. In 1879, the Cecil family provided an old store to use for worshipping known as the Guardian Angel Chapel. Father Pye Neale who was a traveling priest going from parish to parish, was the first pastor and often stayed at the Cecil home. In 1880, Maria Cecil received an artistic image of the Holy Face* from Pope Leo XIII. It is believed she received it, not only because she was a devout Catholic and devoted to the Holy Face, but also because of the family's generosity to the church.

In 1887, the Holy Face Church was dedicated on the property and replaced the Guardian Angel Chapel. A new Holy Face Church was built on adjoining property in 1940. The old church building was briefly used as a tobacco barn before it was abandoned.

The old church is still standing although it no longer has a steeple and its windows are boarded up. It originally stood across from the Clifton Factory which was bought by William W. Cecil (Maria's husband) around 1879. He sold it to his son, John, who razed the factory and rebuilt Cecil's Mill.

After the sawmill was closed in 1959, the mill and church remained abandoned and fell into disrepair until the mid-1970s when J. Allen and William Cecil donated the property to the St. Mary's County Historic Society. In 1978, Cecil's Mill Historic District was named to the National Register of Historic Places with the old Holy Face Church designated as one of four contributing structures.

*The Holy Face refers to the image of the face of Jesus Christ that was left on the veil of Veronica, a holy woman, as He was led to His crucifixion.

References:

• How Holy Face Parish in Southern Maryland got its name
• Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: Old Holy Face Church
• On-site information

Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): Cecil's Mill Historic District Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link] NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): [Web Link] Address: Indian Bridge Rd. Great Mills, MD 20634 How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Narrative found on the internet (Link provided below) Optional link to narrative or database: [Web Link]

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