St. Patrick and St. Anthony Church, Hartford

Saint Patrick and Saint Anthony Church, located on Church Street in downtown Hartford, is the oldest Roman Catholic parish in Connecticut. Founded in 1829 to serve Hartford’s growing Irish immigrant population, the parish originally worshipped in a relocated Episcopal church renamed Holy Trinity. That building was lost to fire in 1853, just three years after construction began on a new church at Church and Anne Streets.

The first purpose-built Saint Patrick’s Church burned down in 1875, and its replacement, completed in 1876 and consecrated in 1885, suffered a major fire in 1956. Rather than abandon the site, the congregation rebuilt once more-this time within the surviving walls of the 1876 structure.

In 1958, Saint Patrick Parish merged with Saint Anthony Parish, which had been founded in the 1890s as a national parish for Hartford’s Italian immigrant community. Saint Anthony's church, originally located on Market Street, was closed and eventually demolished as part of mid-century redevelopment.

The merged parish, now known as Saint Patrick and Saint Anthony, continues to play an active role in the city. Since 1990, it has been administered by Franciscan friars, who have expanded its mission with robust urban outreach programs. Architecturally cathedral-like and steeped in history, the church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 as part of the Ann Street Historic District Complexes.