St. Mary Catholic Church in Rock Hill, SC, began with the efforts of Fr. Edward Wahl who was assigned to work with the local African American community following his ordination in January 1945. At that time, there were only five practicing Black Catholics in Rock Hill and the need in the African American community was apparent. As interest in Catholicism and organized recreation grew within the local African American community, so did the need for a church. Fr. Edward purchased land with the help of many benefactors and matching Diocesan funds. On October 3, 1945, St. Mary broke ground on its present Crawford Road site and the first Mass was celebrated July 4, 1946, with St. Mary’s five registered members.

St. Mary experienced astonishing growth during the 1950s through the start of several civic programs and community services. In 1951, Crawford Federal Credit Union was created—providing loans and banking services to the poor and serving as an alternate source of credit to those who could not afford the high interest rates at the time. In 1954, five of our youth enrolled in St. Anne School in Rock Hill, becoming the first integrated school in South Carolina.

Brother David Boone arrived at St. Mary in 1959 and served as Church Administrator for over 50 years.  Brother David’s humble service expanded to greater causes forever impacting the Rock Hill African American community. His unwavering stand for civil rights and racial equality helped pave the way for local integration. Throughout his leadership and devotion to St. Mary Catholic Church and his fight as a soldier for social justice, his monumental mark on our parish’s history will never be forgotten.

A new era begins
After a very successful Capital Campaign that started in 2005, the “new” St. Mary Church was built in November 2006. Our beautiful church, where we worship today, seats nearly 500 attendees. Our members are united by proud diversity, compassion, outreach to our community, and fellowship.

As we look to the future, we hope the seeds of faith, love, and compassion will continue as symbols of St. Mary Church and inspire those who follow in our footsteps to maintain a vision deeply rooted from the past. Our mission statement says it all: