Before 1872, Catholics in East Palestine had to walk five miles across the state border to attend Mass at St. Rose Parish in Cannelton, Pennsylvania. A visiting priest mentioned this predicament to Bishop Richard Gilmore of Cleveland, so the bishop arranged for a priest to visit and offer Mass in the homes of the East Palestine faithful.
The community became a mission and they began building a wood-frame church on West Clark Street. They celebrated their first Mass there on January 20, 1881, but pews were not yet installed; parishioners sat on planks placed on nail kegs, and heat came from a small stove. The parish became known as St. Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes.
The parish purchased land for a St. Mary Cemetery on Brookdale Avenue in 1886, and they still maintain the cemetery today. By 1950, the population of the parish had increased and so did the demand for Catholic education, so Our Lady of Lourdes School was blessed on September 17, 1951, by Bishop Emmet Walsh and was staffed by the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown. The school closed in the early 1970s due to decreased enrollment and high operation costs.
The school was renovated so that it could be used for community and parish functions—of which there are many. Today, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish has many thriving ministries, including its Gift of Mary ministry, which aids those in need in the community through free meals and other crucial services; its Saint Mary’s Ladies Aid Society; and the Knights of Columbus Reagan Council 1890. Our Lady of Lourdes Parish has been collaborating with St. Jude Parish in Columbiana since 2009.
Under the patronage of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Blessed Mother challenges Catholics in East Palestine to embrace our discipleship of her Son in deeper and more intimate ways.
Description from The March of the Eucharist, 2nd edition (2025) published by The Catholic Echo
