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St. antHony’S cHurcH
The history of St. Anthony’s Church can be traced to the mid-1800s, when Masses were rst celebrated in homes
for a small number of Catholic families in northern Tompkins County.
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St. Anthony’s was of cially established in 1874 with the opening of a church on South Main Street in the Village of Groton. One year later, Father Charles Horan became the parish’s rst
resident pastor.
St. Anthony’s celebrated its golden anniversary on June 13, 1924, the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua. During the parish’s 75th-anniversary year of 1949, then-pastor Father William Hayes issued a letter to parishioners stating that the original church was deteriorating and would eventually need to be replaced.
Slowly but surely, a new church came into being. Plans for that structure, along with a religious-
education building and rectory, were announced in 1966. In 1973 a 14-acre tract of land was acquired just north of the village. Groundbreaking for the current church complex at 312 Locke Road took place in 1974, the year of the parish’s centennial. A dedication Mass in the new St. Anthony facility was celebrated Oct. 26, 1975, with Auxiliary Bishop Dennis W. Hickey, as celebrant. Bishop Hickey began his homily with a quote from Matthew 16:18: “Peter, upon this rock I will build my church.”
Since 2005, St. Anthony’s has been part of a cluster with two other Tompkins County parishes, Holy Cross in Dryden and All Saints in Lansing.