History

Every parish is a microcosm of the Universal Church - the Body of Christ. The story of Saint Vincent dePaul Church, Akron's oldest Catholic parish, tells not only of our relationship to the life of the Church, but also of our ties to the local community. Water is the sign of the Holy Spirit's life-giving presence through the Sacrament of Baptism. Water is also the cause for the founding of the City of Akron, due in no small part to the efforts of Irish immigrant laborers and their families who came to this region in the late 1820s to build the Ohio and Erie Canal: the region's link with the rest of the world.

The earliest records show St. Vincent as a mission visited by Father Basil A. Shorb, Pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church, Chippewa / Doylestown, in 1837. St. Vincent Parish is ten years older than the Diocese of Cleveland. Prior to 1847, the parish was in the Diocese of Cincinnati.

Early parishioners celebrated Mass in their log homes when the priest came to town. The first permanent church was a frame structure built in 1844 with timbers cut and hauled by members of the parish on land donated by the father of a Judge Edwin O. Green, from which Green Street takes its name. The original church building was opposite Wood Street, near to the present Green Street Stadium.

Under the pastoral leadership of Father Matthew A. Scanlon, ground was broken for the present church structure on February 18, 1864. On March 17, 1864, the cornerstone was laid - thus a connection with St. Patrick, as a special patron, from the beginning.

Construction was suspended during 1865, possibly due to the shortage of materials and/or manpower that may have been the result of the Civil War. Construction resumed in 1866 and was completed in time for the first Mass to be celebrated on October 20, 1867.