Historical Notes

Excerpted from Historical Profile of the Hamlet of Quiogue, Prepared by Ronald A. Michne Jr., February 2007, http://www.southamptontownny.gov/filestorage/596/598/1946/quiogue.pdf

 

Father Patrick Creighton of Riverhead,
First Priest to the Immaculate Conception Mission of Quiogue.

The first Catholic Mass was said on Quiogue by Reverend Patrick Creighton prior to 1880 (1874 according to the 1914 article below) in a front room of Francis and Margaret Foley’s farmhouse, then located on the eastern side of Aspatuck Creek. In 1883, Margaret Foley gave to the Diocese of Brooklyn a site on which the first church was built. The first dedicated Catholic Church building was erected in the early 1890s (the church site says 1891). The site of this first building faced Meeting House Road, just to the south of where the present church building is located. Originally, Catholic priests came out from New York City for services. It was not until 1911 that the first resident priest, Father John Paterson was installed. Attendance of the new members of the Quiogue Summer Colony and the growing number of Catholics moving into the area soon made the church obsolete.

Turkey Bridge circa 1920, connecting Catchaponek (Westhampton) and Quiogue.

A second church was constructed to the north of the first church very near the site of the present church building. The first church building became a store for a short while, then a private residence until it was moved further up Meeting House Road to the Foster Homestead property. The first building church building was moved again to the north side of Foster Road where it still stands today as a private residence. A small rectory was built on the vacant spot where the first church building sat. The second church building soon proved too small as well. It was used until 1922 when it was moved about 200 feet back on Franklin Avenue where it was remodeled and served as a Parish Hall. The present church was built and consecrated in 1922. Around the same time, the rectory next door was renovated and enlarged.

Catholic Church building when it was located on Main Street about 1922


Second Catholic Church Building is located at 580 Main Street, located just west of the present church building. It was moved to Franklin Avenue after it was moved from its location on Main Street (see above). It now houses the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men's fraternal benefit society.

The Francis & Margaret Foley Farmhouse is located at 22 Franklin Avenue. This house, along with the house next door, originally made up the farmhouse of Mrs. Foley. It was in this house that the first Catholic Mass was held on Quiogue. The farmhouse was built about 1860 and was originally located closer to Aspatuck Creek before being moved to its present location. Mrs. Foley was a member of the founding group of Catholics in the Quiogue area.

Part of Francis & Margaret Foley Farmhouse is at 20 & 18 Franklin Avenue. The house, along with the house next door, originally made up the farmhouse of Mrs. Foley. The house on the east side of the property is the former Merriman Martin house. Mary Eager and her brother John came to America from Ireland in the mid 1850s. Sometime around 1860, Mary Foley married Francis Foley, and built a home on the north side of what now Franklin Avenue near the Aspatuck Creek. It was in the dining room of this house that the first Catholic Mass was held on Quiogue just prior to 1880. Mrs. Foley was a member of the founding group of Catholics in the Quiogue area. The Foleys also gave the land that would eventually make up the present Catholic Church property.

The first Roman Catholic Church Building is located at 8 Foster Lane. This building located at the corner of Quantuck Lane and Foster Road was the first free-standing Catholic Sanctuary built in Quiogue. The building was originally built about 1884 on the site where the present Immaculate Conception is located today. The church had Sunday School rooms on each side of the central part, which was the sanctuary. After the new church building was built in 1891, for a short while this building became a store, then became the private residence of Stephen Foley. It was then moved to the north side of Meeting House Road on the property of the Foster Homestead. Here it became an annex to the Homestead called “The Oaks.” It handled the overflow of guests when the Homestead became full. Later, it was moved once more to its present location on the north side of Foster Lane by the Foster Family who also remodeled it. It was, for many years, the summer home of members of the Dudley family when they moved from the house they had rented in the Dunes (present day Dune Road).

Te I.C. School of Religion, at 18 Ocame Avenue, was acquired from the estate of Franklin Jessup in 1954. The School of Religion building was built in 1968.


From A history of Long Island: from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume 2, Peter Ross, William Smith Pelletreau, 1905.

St. John's church, at Riverhead, is under the pastoral care of the venerable Father Patrick Creighton, so long known in Brooklyn as the pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Victories. This parish was founded in 1870. Attached to it as an out-mission is the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Quogue.



From The Catholic Church in the United States of America: undertaken to celebrate the golden jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X,
Volume 3, Catholic editing company, New York, 1914.

Immaculate Conception, Quogue, L.I. — This parish was formerly attended from Riverhead during the summer months and was made a parish in June, 1913, with Westhampton as a mission and Rev. John J. Patterson as pastor. The beautiful church was built by Rev. P. Creighton of Riverhead, who founded the mission in 1874. The property is valued at $9000. Father Patterson added a rectory. Father Patterson served as curate at the churches of St. Augustine and St. Paul, Brooklyn.


From Church of St. Malachy, www.nycago.org/Organs/Bkln/html/StMalachy.html :

St. Malachy Roman Catholic Church was established in 1854 to serve East New York, at the time a fast-growing area of Brooklyn ... The school had been established three years earlier, in 1868, when Father Patrick Creighton, the first resident pastor, secured a three-story building on Atlantic Avenue and nine adjoining lots.

 

 

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