1820—2020
St. John’s was incorporated and celebrated its first Mass in the Utica Court House on January 1819.
In 1821, the first St. John’s church was built on Bleecker Street on land donated to the church by Mr. & Mrs. Morris Miller, non-Catholics. The structure was a 60 x 45 white wooden building with Gothic windows constructed on the site of the present church.
In 1834, Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton (now St. Elizabeth Ann Seton) sent 3 nuns to St. John’s at their invitation, to establish a school for young women and an orphanage for girls.
In 1836, the first church building was moved across the street on the northwest corner of John and Bleecker Streets, and in its place, a second new and larger church was built in the Greek Revival style.
In June of 1868, demolition of the second church began.
In June of 1869, the cornerstone of the third church—the present brick edifice—was laid. During construction of the church, the congregation worshipped in the original Court House on John Street and the Utica Catholic Academy. The first Mass in the new church was celebrated on Christmas day of that year.
Since then, St. John’s has undergone many expansions and renovation programs.
In 2019, we celebrated our Bicentennial! We give thanks to God for the grace that we have been shown and we look forward to serving our community in the name of Jesus as long as he wills it!
2021! Stay tuned for the opening of our Church Archive located in the upstairs of the rectory!