Believe it or not, this church in rural Whitefield, Maine is the second oldest Catholic Church in New England! As Irish and French Canadian families settled in this part of Maine in the early 19th century, Catholic churches were needed to provide worship space for those families. The church community of St. Denis began in 1818 when Father Dennis Patrick Ryan, an Irish immigrant serving at St. Patrick Church in Newcastle (the oldest Catholic Church in New England), moved to Whitefield to serve the influx of Irish Catholics and soon founded the church. Fr. Ryan oversaw the construction on a wood-frame structure built on this site. As more Catholic families settled here, a more permanent building was needed, and between 1833 and 1838, the main portion of the present brick church building was constructed around that original church. The tower was added in 1861, and the stained glass windows also date from later in the 19th century following the growth and prosperity of the church and its members. The St. Denis Parish House was constructed across the street in 1871 and is a lovely Romanesque style building.
Buildings of New England 
A curious combination of a (sort of) Federal-style church with a (sort of) Tuscan-style tower! Very interesting to learn that the oldest RC churches in New England are in Maine…
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Its surprising for sure! And the oldest aren’t even that close to Canada!
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I was wondering if there were any pictures of the interior of the church. It seems that there aren’t any online from what I can see.
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I was wondering if there were any pictures of the interior. I can’t seem to find any online!
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There aren’t many photos, but I found one in an article here: https://townline.org/pages-in-time-st-denis-church-observes-200th-anniversary/
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