St. Elizabeth's Church
Elizabethtown, New York
A Short History
The first Roman Catholic church in Elizabethtown was built in 1881 on land purchased for $1 from the Lockhard Land property. The church was named St. Elizabeth's and was dedicated in the same year by Bishop Edgar P. Wadhams, whose family came from the Elizabethtown area. The first resident pastor, Rev. Joseph Redington, was appointed in 1882.
St. Elizabeth's Roman Catholic Church was incorporated as a parish of the Ogdensburg diocese on November 15, 1915 by Rev. John O'Rourke. The first trustees were Michael Daley and John Daigneau.
The present church was built in 1922 and dedicated by Bishop Joseph H. Conroy.
The Catholic community in the Elizabethtown area has been served by other parishes both before and after the original church was built. It was served from Immaculate Conception church in Keeseville 1849 to 1874 and from St. Joseph's in Essex 1875 to 1876. It became a mission of St. Patrick's church in Port Henry in 1881, and after having its own resident pastor 1882 to 1885, was again a mission of Port Henry until 1891. It was then a mission of St. Philip Neri church in Westport from 1892 to 1959.
Source: Sister Mary Christine Taylor, SSJ, A History of Catholicism in the North Country, p. 246f.
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