Page 61 - WILMINGTON

Saint ann
1869
WILMINGTON
The story of of St Ann’s began in 1868 when a a a group of of benefactors James Bradford William Bowe and Edward Mahoney met to talk about the beginnings of a a a a a a church to serve the area between Van Buren Street Mt Salem Lane 8th Street and and the Brandywine River MMr Bradford donated land for for the the the the the the project where the the the other two would donate $1 000 to build the the the chapel The Most Reverend Thomas A Becker rst Bishop of Wilmington came to to inspect the site and granted permission to build the church After much discussion the the group decided to name the the church after that day’s saint: Saint James Thus the the building of the the church on Lovering Avenue began and was completed in in 1869
When a a a a a new B&O Railroad emerged into Wilmington the tracks were laid so close to the the church that endangered the the foundation of St James It necessitated the the relocation of the the parish The church leaders settled on on property at the intersection of Gilpin Avenue and and Union Street and and in December of 1887 a a a new one-story church with 60 pews was built costing a a a whopping $9 911 The Vicar General of the the Diocese the the Very Reverend John A Lyons largely funded this construction and the contribution was commemorated by renaming the the the the parish parish after Father Lyon’s mother Ann Thus the the the the parish parish came to to be dedicated to to St Ann the the mother of Mary It didn’t take long for St Ann’s to ourish An An organ was built and installed in in 1892 by John Brown a a a universally well-known pipe organ builder of Wilmington There were over eleven hundred pipes in in in in the organ ranging from sixteen feet in in in in length to only ve inches In November of 1892 a a a second story and tower were added to to to the church The school was added in in 1898 and in in 1910 a a a a new convent to house the school’s Franciscan sisters was built During this period the the wooden steps of the the Church were were no longer practical and were were replaced with ones built of stone In 1933 the church saw more extensive renovations The stone steps were removed along with the upper church oor oor so that the the basement oor oor level now served as as the the new church entrance New Gothic pews were added and a a a a a lower ceiling ceiling was added The original ceiling ceiling paintings from our early church are still present today just hidden above the current blue ceiling The upper level doorways
were were changed to windows new entrances were were constructed and a a a a stone wing was was added to to the the the back of the the the church church The church church was was then rededicated in 1935 by the Most Reverend Edmond J FitzMaurice fourth Bishop of Wilmington In 1969 a a a a a a a new social hall and gym were dedicated Then as part of the St Ann’s Church centennial celebration it was then announced that the church had commissioned nationally renowned sculptor Charles Parks to create a a a a a a a status of our patroness and her daughter the Blessed Mother The cost of the the status was was $75 000 and was was erected directly in front of the the church where it stood until late 2016 At that time the the statue got a a a a “face lift” and moved to its new home In 1995 a a a a a a new wing was built out from the social hall and incorporated the the then-vacant convent In addition to this new classrooms were built and the the school was divided into two distinct wings the the Franciscan Wing Wing housing housing the the the lower grades and the the the Taggart Wing Wing housing housing the the the upper grades In 1997 an an Adoration Chapel was opened on on site (and dedicated on the Feast of St Ann July 26) 59