Immaculate Conception Catholic Church & Immaculata Catholic School are a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

and

parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

run by the

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a Mendicant orders, mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis ...

in downtown

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. The church and school are located in the Burch Avenue Historic District. Immaculate Conception is the oldest Catholic congregation in Durham, and the affiliated school was the city's first Catholic school.

Church

The Catholic community in Durham formed in 1867, when a group of Catholics from Lockhaven, Pennsylvania settled on land in the area. Prior to the construction of the first church building, Catholics in Durham celebrated mass with visiting priests from

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

and Newton Grove at the William Thomas O'Brien House and at the home of James Lawrence. The O'Brien family were an affluent Catholic family connected to the W. Duke Sons & Company. Later, a space was rented in J.R. Gooch's store on Corcoran Street which led to protests because laws prevented liquor from being sold in close proximity to a church. In 1896, Abbot Leo Haid of Belmont Abbey, the

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of North Carolina, asked Benjamin Newton Duke for financial assistance to build a church, but Duke declined. Later that year, Fr. Prendergast of Raleigh was celebrating mass at the Durham

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

. The first church, a white wooden church named St. Mary's, was built in 1906 on West Chapel Hill Street, located on land once owned by William T. O'Brien. A parochial school was established in 1909. The church was consecrated on January 14, 1906, with 106 members.

School

The first school, called St. Mary's School, was built adjacent to the sanctuary on Chapel Hill Street. The school was founded in 1909 by Fr. Francis O'Brien and the Sisters of St. Dominic from

Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a City (New York), city in Orange County, New York, United States. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area. ...

. St. Mary's enrollment started with nine students and ended with twenty-three in its first year. The school building was torn down and a new building was constructed in the 1951. The school was later renamed St. William's School and, finally, Immaculata School. In 2012, the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a United States Cabinet, cabinet-level department of the federal government of the United States, United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, havin ...

designated Immaculata Catholic School as a

national blue ribbon school The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

for academic achievements. In 2019, the school received a national green ribbon school award from the department of education for efforts to reduce environmental impact. The school was the first in North Carolina to receive AdvancED STEM certification.

Notable alumni

* Vernetta Alston, American politician and member of the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...

Notable clergy

* Casey Cole, Catholic priest, Franciscan friar, and internet celebrity

References

{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh Churches in Durham, North Carolina Franciscan churches in the United States Roman Catholic churches completed in 1906 Roman Catholic churches in North Carolina Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh