The intact buildings and grounds of St. Ambrose Parish reflect the commitment of the Roman Catholic Church to reach small rural communities in Florida. Catholic Mass was first celebrated with settlers in a barn here at Moccasin Branch in the early 1800s. In 1875, St. Ambrose Parish was established when a small wood frame church was built by Father Stephen Langlade. Father Langlade was a skilled carpenter from France who also built a rectory, school, convent, and a larger church by 1907. A second convent was built after the first one burned in 1917, and a new parish hall was built in 1938. Students attended the school from 1881 through 1948 under the tutelage of the Sisters of St. Joseph, who lived in the convent. The early settlers of the area were farmers of Spanish, Irish, Minorcan, Greek, and Italian heritage. Their descendants, with names such as Ashton, Floyd, Lopez, Masters, Ortagus, Pacetti, Pappy, Pellicer, Rogero, Sanchez, Solana, Solano, Triay, Weedman, and others, continue to live in the area and attend the small parish church. The pioneers whose daily lives were intertwined with St. Ambrose Parish are buried in the cemetery nearby.
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.