User:Found5dollar/Saint Patrick's Church (Whitinsville, Massachusetts)

Saint Patrick's Church, Located in the village of Whitinsville in  Northbridge, Massachusetts, is a Roman Catholic church built in the italian gothic style. Constructed in 1899 by Charles Donagh Maginnis, the current structure is the second incarnation of a Roman Catholic church on the site.

History
The First Catholic Mass in Northbridge took place in 1834 in the village of Riverdale and was presided over by Father Fitton. In 1848 a Catholic Census of the Blackstone Valley was taken and it was found that the only Catholics in Northbridge were "fifty railroad men," believed to be mostly Irish. At this time the closest Catholic Church was in [[Milford, Massachusetts and these railroad men and local families had to walk roughly 10 miles to get to the church there. In 1852 a mission of St. Mary's opened in Uxbridge, Massachusetts greatly reducing this walk to only three miles, and St. Mary's church was completed in 1855.

In May of 1857, Father O'Keefe became the Pastor of all of Uxbridge and was given Whitinsville as a Mission. He then purchased a plot of lad at the corner of Church and Cross streets in the center of town. Reverend D.C. Moran had a chapel built on this plot of land in 1870 and it was subsequently dedicated to Saint Patrick. This first St. Patrick's was designed by James Murphy.