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At the turn of the century, the
rich farm lands of the West River Valley, located
just north of the City of New Haven in the Town
of Woodbridge, had begun to attract a rising community
of Italian-American farmers. It is from their
faith and hard work that today’s church
has its roots.
Until 1923 the Catholics of Woodbridge
worshiped at several distant New Haven parishes
and then at St. Ann’s in Hamden. Bethany
Catholics journeyed to the center of Prospect
to St. Anthony’s Church. Finally, in 1923
a delegation was sent to Hartford and shortly
thereafter a mission church… to be administered
by the pastor of St. Ann’s… was authorized.
Land was donated by Pasquale Perrotti and Annina
Perrotti to the ecclesiastical society for the
Church of the Assumption. Work on the mission
church got underway in 1924 and was dedicated
in November 1924. Eventually the Italian community,
with its roots in family-held farms, began to
more and more fill the small church in the West
River Valley section of Woodbridge. Elsewhere
in Woodbridge the number of Catholic residents
rose steadily and each Sunday and Holy Day saw
many people riding from the hills to St. Aedan’s
Church in Westville which was a spacious structure.
On October 17, 1957, the late Archbishop
Henry J. O’Brien authorized the establishment
of the Assumption Parish as a separate and independent
parish. The Reverend John A. Horgan was appointed
the first pastor. In July 1959 Mrs. David Fitzgerald
offered to give the parish a twenty-one acre plot
on Center Road in Woodbridge, as a memorial to
her husband, the late David E. Fitzgerald, former
Mayor of the City of New Haven. Then on July 1,
1960 the Catholics of Bethany were placed under
the jurisdiction of Assumption Parish.
With the addition of the Bethany
Catholics and the steady growth throughout the
two towns, plans soon were underway to construct
a new church and parish center. The present church
and parish center were dedicated on December 23,
1962. Today, the parish boasts over 1,475 families
and an increasing number of ministries, organizations
and activities to assist parishioners in their
personal and communal growth in holiness. The
parishioners, clergy and staff… of many
ethnic and racial backgrounds… strive to
serve veteran members and its overwhelming number
of young families. May Assumption Parish “grow
from strength to strength”.
The history which appears here is
taken from a full history written by Mr. Robert
Leeney which was written for the Dedication of
the Church in 1962. A copy of the full history
is available upon request.
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