St. Mary of the Annunciation at 32477 Church St, Rockwood, MI 48173-1105 US - Celebrating 175 Years 1834-2009

Our History
St. Mary is one of the oldest parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit.  It began on April 12, 1834 when a piece of property on what is currently West Jefferson in Brownstown was deeded to Rev. F. V. Badin for the purpose of building a church for those settling along the Huron River.  By the end of 1834 a small wooden church was built and dedicated to St. Vincent de Paul. 

In 1847 a larger wooden church was built and dedicated by Fr. Smulders under the new name of St. Mary of the Annunciation.  On April 13, 1868 the site for the present church and school on Church St. in Rockwood was obtained.   The wooden church was moved to the Church St. site in 1876 and replaced with a brick church in 1880.  A fire in 1910 led to the building of a larger church in 1911, bricks and windows from the first church were salvaged and used in the new church.

The first pastor assigned to St. Mary was Rev. Charles Giraux in 1886.  Over it's 175 year history there have only been 9 pastors, including our current Rev. James Rafferty.  

An integral part of the parish has been our school  St. Mary School began in 1930 with the arrival of the Sisters of St. Francis.  The Adrian Domincan's took over the education of our children in 1934 and remained until leadership was transferred to lay teachers in 1986.  The building which currently houses kindergarten through third grade was built in 1929/30 and the "new" or junior high wing was added due to overcrowding in 1961. 

There are currently 4th generation children attending the school attended by their great-grandparents.  What a testament to the academic, moral and faith filled excellence our school has provided over it's 79 year history.  To learn more about our school visit their website St Mary's School

To read a more detailed version of our history read the summary for our 175 Anniversary Pictorial