Consecrated in 1878, St. Mary’s Church is named in memory of infant Mary Allen of nearby Tuckahoe Plantation. Throughout its earliest years, St. Mary’s hosted visiting clergy and other lay leaders for monthly worship and focused on serving the impoverished local coal mining and farming communities. The bell from the steam engine that hauled coal from the nearby mines still calls us to worship today.

St. Mary’s Churchyard is home to 100 original gravestones poured by Frank Alley, who is buried here, and numbered by his daughter Ida. The numbered graves represent the burial places of our first congregants and their families.

As St. Mary’s expanded, we needed to accommodate the congregation that would no longer fit inside “Little St. Mary’s” — the original church building. To preserve the historical integrity of the old sanctuary, in 1992 we added “New St. Mary’s” — a larger sanctuary situated behind the original church.

Thanks to its strong history and solid foundation built by early leaders and parishioners, St. Mary’s continues to grow. Membership is at an all-time high. In addition to two worship services each Sunday, St. Mary’s holds regular programs for children, youth, and adults. Continuing its history of mission work, St. Mary’s contributes more than $70,000 to local outreach partners each year.