Saint Ignatius Hickory: The Archdiocese's Oldest Church

Saint Ignatius Church at Hickory holds an unusual distinction: it is said to be the oldest Roman Catholic church in continuous use in the entire Archdiocese of Baltimore, which itself was the first Catholic diocese established in the United States. The church was completed in seventeen ninety-two by Sylvester Boarman, a Jesuit priest stationed at the nearby mission of Saint Joseph at Priest's Ford. The Jesuit presence in this part of Maryland stretched back to the colony's founding in sixteen thirty-four, and this congregation represents one of the longest threads of unbroken Catholic worship in the country. The building has been altered over the centuries but the congregation it shelters has never ceased.