Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin

Parish History

St. Gabriel was established in 1944.  The parish was the end result of the growth of population in the suburban community of Whitehall, then called either Baldwin Manor or Baldwin Township.  On September 12, 1944, a group of local Catholics met to discuss ways to form a local parish.  As a result of the meeting, they sent a petition to the bishop for their own parish. While waiting for this permission, they acquired land for a church and school.  On November 25, 1944, the bishop assigned a pastor to the new, and yet unnamed, parish.  The first Mass in the new parish was celebrated on December 8, 1944, in the chapel of the Sisters of St. Francis.  Subsequent Masses were celebrated at St. Francis Academy.

On January 29, 1945, the congregation requested permission to name the new parish St. Gabriel.  Permission was granted on March 6.  For several years the parish engaged in fund raising for a new church and school.  In the spring of 1949, ground was broken for a school building that would also contain a temporary church in the basement.  The cornerstone of the new building was laid on Mother's Day in 1949.  The school opened in September of 1949 and the first Mass was celebrated on January 1, 1950.

The parish soon outgrew its original building and work on an addition to the original building began in August of 1953.  The completed addition was dedicated on October 10, 1954.  Even with this addition, the school again quickly ran out of room.  On December 1, 1957, ground was broken for the foundation and basement of a church.  The basement was completed and the first Mass in the new structure was celebrated on February 27, 1959.

In 1974, the parish drew up plans to complete the church structure begun in 1957.  Work began in 1975 and the completed church was dedicated on April 23, 1976.  This church serves the congregation today.