St. Mary's Church of the Immaculate Conception, Williamsburg

The property at the corner of Leonard and Maujer (formerly Remsen) Streets was purchased in April of 1853. Cornerstone laid on July 31, 1853 and the church was dedicated by Bishop Loughlin on October 29, 1854 (making it one of the first churches to be dedicated in the Dioceses of Brooklyn, which formed in 1854). Rev. Peter McLaughlin "of Gowanus" was the first pastor for the new church. The building is described as being in the "Elizabethan" style, constructed of brick with imitation brownstone (presumably stucco).1   The Diocese of Brooklyn sold the property in 2014 and it has been redeveloped as apartment housing.

The parish of the St. Mary's of the Immaculate Conception was founded in 1847, as part of the Archdiocese of New York. The parish is alternately called St. Mary's, St. Mary's of the Immaculate Conception or Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. The original inscription over the entrance of the church, in gilt letters, was "St. Mary's of the Immaculate Conception".2

• 1"Williamsburgh Items: A New Catholic Church", New-York Daily Tribune (July 23, 1854), 8; "Williamsburgh News: Dedication of St. Mary's Church of the Immaculate Conception", Brooklyn Daily Eagle (October 30, 1854), 2.
• 2Long Island: Dedication of a Catholic Church in Williamsburg", New York Daily Times (October 30, 1854), 8.