Holy Trinity Parish in East Liverpool—one of the oldest parishes in the diocese—can trace its origins to 1834, when prominent citizen John Blakely opened his home to the village’s 10 Catholic families for worship. This group of Catholics chose the name St. Aloysius for their church, which opened in 1851 after many setbacks—including a fire on their newly-completed structure in 1845.
Members of two other communities are also part of Holy Trinity Parish, including Immaculate Conception in Wellsville and St. Ann in East Liverpool. Immaculate Conception began as a mission in 1835, when five Catholic families in Wellsville gathered in the homes of Patrick Butler and Mrs. J.W. Reilly to celebrate Mass, and it later became a parish. St. Ann was a mission of St. Aloysius— founded in 1915—which was considered a mission and a parish at various times throughout its history.
When the three communities discussed merging in 2011 and landed on the name of Holy Trinity, the parish of St. Ann decided to be suppressed—or disbanded—celebrating its final Mass during Christmas time in homage to its first Mass nearly 100 years prior.
Both St. Aloysius and Immaculate Conception had schools associated with their parishes. St. Aloysius school was founded in 1885 and was staffed early in its history by Humility of Mary Sisters until 1944, when Notre Dame Sisters took over, and later lay people took on the role of teachers. It closed in 2015 due to declining enrollment.
Immaculate Conception School opened in 1891 and the Ursuline Sisters taught there for a time, until the school closed in 1970. All three communities also have a rich history of serving the poor and needy through food pantries, community meals and fundraising for international causes.
The communities chose the name Holy Trinity Parish when they merged on July 2, 2011—presumably in acknowledgement of their three separate histories as well as their devotion to the three aspects of our trinitarian God.
Description from The March of the Eucharist, 2nd edition (2025) published by The Catholic Echo
