The Little Flower Church

scotto

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Feb 15, 2004
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The Beach Strip
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Sent in by David;

http://hcdsbarchive.weebly.com/uploads/6/6/7/0/6670840/doc000.pdf
In 1925, St. John's in Burlington was made a parish under the direction of Father Daniel A. Ford. Attached as parish missions were Milton,
Milton Heights and Hamilton Beach. The latter is a sandy strip of land dividing Hamilton Bay from Lake Ontario. In the years prior to World War II it was used by prosperous Hamiltonians for summer residences.
The mission church on Hamilton Beach had its origin in 1922 when Reverend George J. Cleary left his pastorate at Caledonia to live in retirement with his Sisters on Hamilton Beach. He began to offer Sunday Mass for the Catholic residents of the Beach in the summer home of Mr. Peter Ryan. Soon the little congregation purchased a plot of land and relocated thereon a former soldiers' barracks which had recently been used at Holy Family in Hamilton as a school room.
Unfortunately Father Cleary died suddenly only two weeksafter this mission chapel was ready for use in 1923. For the next two years, until St. John's Parish was formed, priests came to the Beach Strip each Sunday from St. Patrick's in Hamilton. During 1954 a new, larger St. Theresa's Church was erected on the same property on the Beach Strip.
 

scotto

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 15, 2004
6,985
218
63
The Beach Strip
#3
Gary Evans has a chapter covering the Beach churches in his newest book, in 1923 an old army barracks was moved to the present day site and renovated as a church which served well for 30 years. A new structure was built in the early 1950's at a cost of $30,000 when the old church became unusable. Gary writes that the church was indeed named St. Teresa's but residents used the name Chapel of the Little Flower.
 
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