Schenectady in the first half of the 19th century was a burgeoning city.  The Erie Canal increased both commerce and population.  Union College attracted many young men as students.  Factories, shops, banks, churches, and even a library emerged.  That period of growth also saw the establishment in 1830 of the first Roman Catholic Church in Schenectady.

Until the industrialization of the area, there were few Catholic settlers in the Mohawk Valley.  Dutch and English immigrants were firmly established by the time the Irish Catholic laborers came upon the scene.  When the Schenectady section of the Erie Canal was completed (1825), some of the workmen decided to establish their homes in the city.

In 1830, twenty Catholic families appealed to Bishop John DuBois (whose dioceses included all of New York State and northern New Jersey) to establish a parish in Schenectady.

Those families, all Irish, formed the nucleus of St. John's parish.  This small community held its services in a rented room of a broom factory near the Mohawk River bridge.  Rev. Charles Smith of St. Mary's in Albany and other priests came when they could to say Mass, until 1831 when Rev. John Kelly was appointed the first pastor.

Under Father Kelly's guidance, construction of the present church on Franklin Street was begun.  Before the building was completed, Rev. Patrick McCloskey became pastor.  He celebrated the first Mass in St. John's Church on October 13, 1939.

The year 1848 saw the beginning of successive potato crop failure in Ireland.  An influx of immigrants fleeing the famine increased the Catholic population in Schenectady.  Many joined their relatives already here, and St. John's parish continued to grow.

Laborers from other countries in Europe, attracted by work on the railroad, immigrated tot he area.  In 1862, St. Joseph's parish was founded as a mission of St. John's for the German population of the city.

The parish began to provide for the education of its children in 1865 with the establishment of a convent and school.  Four sisters of the Holy Name gave the students a good basic education in a two-room school house adjoining the church.  Enrollment increased steadily, and in 1873 the parish purchased the Methodist Church building on Liberty Street.  It was converted into a convent and more school rooms.

Three years later, in 1876, a rectory was built next to the convent on Liberty Street.  In that same year the parish bought land for a cemetery on Brandywine Avenue.  Until that time the dead were buried in the church yard.  Those earlier burials were disinterred and removed tot he new cemetery.

By the year 1887, people connected with St. John's parish numbered about 2,500.  It was then that Rev. John L. Reilly was sent as pastor.

Father Reilly began an ambitious program for St. John's.  In 1900 a new church (presently St. John the Evangelist) was begun on Union Street.  Both the old and new churches operated as one parish under the direction of Father Reilly. "Old St. John's" (St. John the Baptist) operated as mission of "New St. John's."

In 1920 Bishop Gibbons divided St. John's Catholic Church of Schenectady into three parishes.  New St. John's became St. John the Evangelist.  Old St. John's was named St. John the Baptist, and a new parish was created for the Italians of the city, St. Anthony's.  Rev. Vincent O'Brien was appointed pastor of St. John the Baptist.

Father O'Brien undertook some major renovations during the 1920''s.  The old school adjoining the church was torn down and the present rectory erected in its place.  The old rectory at 412 Liberty Street was converted into a convent for six Sisters of Mercy who arrived in 1920 to operate the parish school.  The tall steeple was removed from the church, since it had been weakened over the years by vibrations of passing trains.

Major renovations on the interior of the church building were undertaken in 1963-64 while Rev. Edward J. Hickey was pastor.  Oak pews replaced the original pine ones.  A wide center aisle replaced two narrow side ones.  Three years later, on June 27, 1967. fire destroyed the interior of the building.  Rev. James Carr, the assistant pastor, and John Hayes the custodian rushed into the building and carried the Blessed Sacrament to safety.  After extensive repairs, the church was re-opened on Christmas Day, 1967.

In 1969, after 104 years of educating children, St. John's parish school was closed due to decreasing enrollment and lack of teachers. Sisters of Mercy had served there for 49 years, and remembered St. John's in their Annals (Vol. I) as "one of their happiest missions."

Since Vatican II, St. John the Baptist parish has been in the vanguard of educating parishioners, fostering a spirit of community among its members, and implementing reform.  In 1970, the first parish council was formed with Paul Herrmann as president.  Rev. Alan Jupin became pastor in 1972, after the retirement of Father Hickey.

On February 4, 1974, an event of historical and ecumenical significance took place.  A Convenant of Mutual Concerns was signed by the pastors of St. John the Baptist and St. George's Episcopal Church of Schenectady.  This signing took place during the visit fo the Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey.  The two parishes pledged to work together in ecumenical concerns, to share facilities, and to pray for unity.

Rev. Robert J. LeFevre was appointed pastor of St. John's in July 1979.  In the 1970's St. John's experienced another growth spurt, from about 250 families to 850.  The new "immigrants"  came from all over the city of Schenectady and its suburbs.  Drawn by the spirit of Christian love evident in the parish, the newcomers worked to nourish the burgeoning community.  St. John's continued to grow as a forward-looking Roman Catholic Church.

In order to take a critical look at the parish strengths and needs, St. John's underwent an extensive program of Pastoral Planning in 1977.  One of the results of this process was the formation of a mission statement.  Many voices contributed to this statement of who the people of St. John's are and what they are about.  The parish works:

• -to proclaim that Jesus is Lord and Savior through a living Christian Community, open to all.
• -to be united in worship and prayer, empowered by the Holy Spirit to love and serve our brothers and sisters in the parish and the community at large.
• -to foster our unity in God's people by being receptive to the presence of Jesus in one another by celebrating our diverse gifts.

Today, members of St. John the Baptist Catholic Community join with those who preceded them in faith, fervently praying 'may the bicentennial of Old St. John's find it still fulfilling the dreams and hopes of that small but intrepid band of Christian souls who were the promoters of the Catholic faith in Schenectady.'

Written by, Suzanne K. Morey (August 1980)