St. Lawrence Parish of Utica

In May 1866 the Reverend Amandus VanDenDriessche of Detroit recited Utica’s first Catholic mass. Forty Irish families at Utica Junction (present-day Roseville) formed what became a mission of Sacred Heart Parish. On August 15, 1874, Bishop C. H. Borgess dedicated St. Lawrence Parish’s first church. Four years later a cemetery was consecrated one-half mile north of here. In 1904 a fire swept through Utica, destroying the church. Parishioners worshipped in homes and a rented hall until a new church was built in 1908. The present Neo-Romanesque church was designed by Detroit architect Arthur DesRosiers and erected in 1951. The broad nave seats 800 people. St. Lawrence Parish remains the oldest religious community in Utica.