St. Margaret Mary Church of Terre Haute

St. Margaret Mary Parish was founded on January 23, 1920. Bishop Joseph Chartrand, on a pastoral visit to St. Mary of the Woods, asked Fr. Clement J. Thienes to organize a new parish south of Washington St, west of the C.E. & I. Railroad in Terre Haute and following Riley Road south to the county line, east of the Wabash River and again south to the county line. He was to procure an appropriate site for the new parish facility within those boundaries.

On May 20, 1920, the present parish site at Seventh and Voorhees was purchased. At midnight on Christmas the first Parish Mass was celebrated in the front room of the priest residence.

In May of 1921, construction began on the combination School-Church building. In September of that same year, school opened with an enrollment of one hundred pupils under the direction of the Sisters of Providence.

At the same time, the parish began using the school building for Mass. In 1941, Anton Hulman purchased a residence on the northeast corner of Seventh and Voorhees and donated it as the new parish convent. The house was renovated and the sisters moved in on the Feast of St. Margaret Mary, October 17, 1941.

In 1956, plans for a new church and rectory were begun. By October of that year the parish had pledged $75,042. The new church and rectory were dedicated on January 19, 1958.

In July of 1980, a church renovation according to the norms of Vatican Council II began under the direction of Fr. John Dede. The renovation was completed for the Easter Celebration of 1981.

In 1998, St Margaret Mary went through a pastoral planning process. The process identified the need to move the Parish south of Terre Haute. The Legacy of Hope started the fundraising process and land was donated. In 2005 the project was delayed as the Terre Haute Deanery began a comprehensive study of the future of the 14 parishes. The dream remains in the thoughts and prayers of our congregation. In 2007 The Legacy For Our Mission was launched to meet our immediate needs to renovate the gathering area of the Dede Parish Activity Center.