History of Annunciation Church

The land history begins in 1795 when Senator William Hepburn successfully petitioned the Pennsylvania Assembly to form the new county of Lycoming. Senator Hepburn's surveyor, Michael Ross, was compensated in part for his services by a land grant of an area which is now downtown Williamsport.

In 1865, sixty Irish families no longer wanted to attend the German speaking Saint Boniface Church. With the approval of Bishop Wood of Philadelphia, they formed the English speaking parish of Annunciation. What they lacked in numbers, they made up for in faith and determination. The Bishop appointed the Rev. Peter F. Sullivan as Annunciation's first Pastor, and the first Masses were held in rented quarters on West Third Street known as "Doebler Hall." The exact location remains unknown.

While they desired a permanent edifice of their own, they were unable to agree on any of the details. So, Father Sullivan went ahead on his own and purchased a lot on the corner of Edwin and Walnut Streets (where the Blessed Mary statue now stands in the garden). He even started a stone foundation. However, there was so much dissension by the parishioners that they wrote to Bishop Wood who had him transferred. The building was demolished shortly thereafter.

Bishop Wood next appointed Father Michael P. Stack as pastor in October of 1866. Only 23 years old and less than a year's experience as a priest, Father Stack nevertheless had the gift of "charm." He terminated the Doebler Hall lease and persuaded the elected Protestant Commissioners to allow them to use a room in the Lycoming County Court House as a temporary Chapel. He then convinced everyone that the church should actually be built on the purchased site. The construction began in the summer of 1867 and soon Annunciation Church became a reality. This church was erected with the front door facing Edwin Street where the western half of St. Joseph's School now stands. Unfortunately, no photographs of this earlier church have been found.

While Father Stack had the personality and the drive to get a church built, he apparently was not as suited at managing the Church's business affairs. Lycoming County had recently become a part of the newly formed Diocese of Scranton, and so it became Bishop O'Hara's responsibility to relieve him of his post. Father Stack retaliated by renouncing his priesthood and suing Lycoming County for physical possession of the church and ground. After a protracted battle, the Courts finally ruled in favor of the Bishop. This established the still binding precedent that all Catholic property is held under the ownership and guidance of the ruling Bishop. Happily it can be reported that several years before he died, Father Stack repented his actions and re-entered the priesthood.

The area of Williamsport expanded in 1867 when the town's leader Peter Herdic purchased the area west of Hepburn Street to Lycoming Creek. A man of strong religious beliefs, he donated over the next few years approximately every other corner along West Fourth Street for a church. To the Roman Catholic Church he gave the corner of West Fourth and Walnut Streets.

The next choice to lead Annunciation Church proved to be much more fortuitous. When Father Eugene A. Garvey arrived on December 8, 1871 the parish was still very small. When he departed in 1899, on his way to becoming Bishop of Altoona, he left behind a new Convent, a Rectory, St. Joseph's Academy, six Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to run the school, the 13 acre Mount Carmel Cemetery, and an enthusiastic parish of more than three thousand.

Unquestionably his outstanding achievement was to be the guiding force behind the magnificent church known today. Designed by local architect Amos Wagner and constructed by Gottlich Waltz, this Romanesque structure is of cathedral class. Its soaring ceilings, 43 stained glass windows, stone towers and buttresses all add elegance and awe to its fine architectural concept. Most of the interior, including the gallery, wainscoting, doors, stairs, and the comfortable pews were accented in richly designed oak. With a superior Odell pipe organ and a harmonious color scheme, Annunciation Church had an atmosphere of joyful worship, and it was one of the largest churches anywhere that didn't have interfering center columns.

The original architectural drawing - 1886