Atlanta’s first Catholic Church

Shrine of the Immaculate Conception with Atlanta City Hall in distance.

The first beginnings of this building, the oldest church in north Georgia and Atlanta’s first Catholic Church, are told in stories of early missionaries to the area. No existing records prior to 1846 verify when or where the first Mass was celebrated in Atlanta. Conflicting stories from that period suggest various private homes or a school building as the site of that first Atlanta liturgy.

In all probability missionary priests were ministering to Atlanta by the early 1840’s. These early missionary priests followed the railroad, celebrating Mass in various railroad camps and towns throughout north Georgia.

Atlanta Catholics completed their first church building in 1848. Not yet named, it was known simply as “the Catholic Church”. This building stood on the same site as the present church. This first church was a simple wood frame structure similar to the construction of surrounding buildings.