St. Mary's Anglican Church

The first church services for the Chatham parish were held at St. Paul 's Church, Bushville on Christmas Day, 1823, with Rev. Samuel Bacon as the rector.  Construction of St. Mary's as a 'Chapel of Ease' in the town of Chatham began in 1836.  Work was completed in time for the first services on December 31, 1837.

In 1894, St. Mary's Church was renovated and expanded with Bishop Kingdon dedicating the remodelled church on August 7, 1895.  Unfortunately, it was destroyed by fire on January 12, 1964 when the Rev. L. M. Pepperdene was rector of the parish.  A new building was begun in 1970.  Archbishop A. H. O'Neil dedicated the new St. Mary's on April 19, 1971 and the church was consecrated by Archbishop H. L. Nutter on the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, October 28, 1981. 

Renovations were completed in 1999 to the front entrance of the church to create a new interior stairway as well as an elevator.  Two beautiful old stained glass windows from the former Sunday School Hall were also incorporated into the addition.  Bishop George Lemmon blessed the addition at a service held on November 21, 1999.  The lift was dedicated in memory of Walter Brown on November 26, 2000.

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