Sacred Heart Church
Sacred Heart Church
Watertown's first catholic society was formed in 1831. They met in several places until they purchased the old First Baptist Church on Factory Street in 1838, which the congregation named St. Mary's. Waves of Irish immigrants in the 1840's and 1850's led the Irish to build St. Patrick's Church on Massey Street. The remaining congregation of St. Mary's remained on Factory Street until the 1870's, when they moved into their new church, named Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, on Thompson Street.
Three churches have been home to the Sacred Heart parish during its history. The first church, a wooden structure built in 1876, stood on Thompson Street. In 1906, the congregation moved to a Gothic style church on the corner of Thompson and Lynde Streets. The old wooden church was then moved to the corner of Davidson and Lynde Streets, and today is home to the Disabled Person's Action Organization.
The stone church was destroyed by fire in 1969, and a modern structure was erected in its place in 1971.