Our Lady of the Lakes Parish consists of two communities: St. Catherine in Lake Milton and St. James in North Jackson. St. Catherine was established in 1927 as a mission for the residents of Lake Milton who maintained summer cottages at the lake. As such, it was only open from June to September, so for several years after St. James’ founding, year-round residents had to go to Mass at St. James Mission in North Jackson—the community with which St. Catherine would eventually merge. In 1956 Bishop Emmet Walsh raised St. Catherine’s status to that of parish and it received its first resident pastor, with year-round Masses. The parish built a family center for CCD and social events in 1959, and it started plans for a new red-brick church to replace the old frame structure the parish was using previously. It was dedicated by Bishop Walsh in 1963.
The St. James community began in the late 1920s as a catechetical mission of St. Brendan Parish in Youngstown, meaning it was established to provide classes in basic Catholic doctrine on Saturdays. In 1935, a census revealed 105 Catholics living in the areas of Berlin, Milton, Ellsworth and Jackson, so permission was granted to form a mission in North Jackson, under the patronage of St. James the Greater. Its first Mass was celebrated in the North Jackson High School Auditorium on June 6, 1937, and the community later worshipped on the second floor of the town hall building.
In the early years, Humility of Mary Sisters from St. Brendan Parish directed the religious education program. St. James received parish status in 1943, just a few months after the establishment of the Diocese of Youngstown. In 1982, the Edward DeBartolo Corporation donated property for a church, and parishioners came together to quickly build the structure. The first Mass was celebrated on December 18, 1982.
The two communities again found themselves formally collaborating in the 1990s, as part of the diocesan “Walking Together” process. Over the following years, parish offices were combined, religious education programs were merged and various other programs came together, including the Men’s Clubs, the Ladies’ guilds and parish councils. The communities were merged by Bishop Murry, SJ, on feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, October 7, 2010.
Description from The March of the Eucharist, 2nd edition (2025) published by The Catholic Echo
