The Basilica Parish of The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary

“Before the Civil War, Catholicity was almost an unknown quantity in the Village of Southampton,” wrote historian James Truslow Adams in 1918. That changed toward the end of the 19th century as Southampton began to acquire its reputation as a world-class resort. It was common then for the wealthy newcomers to arrive in Southampton with Iarge staffs of domestic servants, often Irish immigrants, who were accustomed to attending Mass on Sunday. The nearest Catholic Church at that time was in Sag Harbor, an arduous, dusty trip. A member of the then fledgling summer colony, Mrs. Frederick Betts, wrote at that time to Sag Harbor’s pastor asking that Mass be celebrated in Southampton because the Catholic servants she employed would not stay if they could not fulfill their obligation to attend Mass. Her wish was granted and the Mass was held in a private home where the overflow attendance inspired a donation of land for a temporary Catholic Church on Windmill Lane. It held its first service in 1881; in 1892 construction began on the first church on Hill Street land. It was ready for use that summer. “Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary became a parish in response to the uncompromising faith of the poor and the need of the rich,” Rev. Edmond J. Trench, a recent pastor of Sacred Hearts, wrote in a 1996 brochure. When that church was only 10 years old, plans for a new church were already being discussed. Additional Hill Street land was purchased and the architecture firm T.H. Poole and Co. was hired. Mr. Poole himself provided the design in the English Gothic style to be built using Dorset Vermont marble. Hired as builder was Norcross Brothers Co., which was at the same time engaged to build the New York Public Library. They used some of the stone that was used for the New York Public Library in the church in Southampton.Sacred Hearts was dedicated in July 1893 and a cornerstone laid in July 1907. When it was unveiled, The Southampton Press called the beautiful marble structure “the most imposing church edifice on Long Island” and praised its decorations as “artistic and magnificent.” In 2012, Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Catholic Church was formally inaugurated as a basilica, becoming the first Roman Catholic basilica on Long Island.