You are looking at the oldest Catholic church in the state of Georgia, originally known as Locust Grove Catholic, and more formally as the Church of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Often called the “Cradle of Catholicity in Georgia,” it may surprise many that the first Catholic congregation in the state was not founded in Savannah, but here, in a rural farm settlement during the 1790s.
+ Continue readingA group of English Catholic families left Maryland seeking fertile farmland and religious freedom, settling in Wilkes County (now Taliaferro). They named their new home Mary Land and in 1792, organized Georgia’s first Roman Catholic church. Father John LeMoin, a Maryland native, was sent from Baltimore to lead the parish. Savannah would not see its first Catholic church until 1802.
Soon after, French Catholics fleeing revolution and the Haitian slave revolt joined the community, followed later by Irish immigrants—including the ancestors of authors Margaret Mitchell and Flannery O’Connor. By 1818, the settlement, now called Locust Grove, had opened the first Catholic school in Georgia, Locust Grove Academy, which educated three future governors, among them Alexander Stephens of nearby Crawfordville.
The first log church of the 1790s was replaced in 1821 by a larger frame structure. At its height, the parish supported several “stations” where Mass was said in private homes. But when the railroads reached the area in the 1850s, the congregation shifted to Sharon. The 1821 frame church was moved there in 1877, replaced in 1883 by the handsome brick church still standing today. Beside it rose Sacred Heart Seminary, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph, which operated until the 1940s.
The Locust Grove cemetery, dating to 1790, is the oldest Catholic burial ground in Georgia. Many graves are marked only by fieldstones, and recent archaeological surveys have revealed dozens of unmarked burials, likely enslaved people who participated in the parish’s sacramental life. Today, the cemetery is carefully maintained, with broken stones repaired and an annual All Souls Mass honoring the interred.
The town of Sharon thrived until the boll weevil crisis devastated the cotton economy in the early 20th century. As the population dwindled, so did the parish. The church was closed in 2001 but saved in 2014 by the Friends of Purification, who stabilized the bell tower and restored the sanctuary. Today, the church serves as the Purification Catholic Heritage Center, hosting tours, retreats, and special Masses, ensuring that this cradle of Catholicism in Georgia is remembered and preserved.