Third Avenue at 99th Street, Stone Harbor
Msgr. William Quinn, Pastor
The story of Catholics in early Stone Harbor.
When the men of vision from the South Jersey Realty Company took title to all the property in Stone Harbor in 1907, they set about developing the community we now know as a vacation spot for thousands and a year-round home for many. In those early years, going to Mass on Sunday was quite involved. There was no church in Stone Harbor until 1911, nor was there a bridge. However, the realty firm provided a motor boat for those who wished to attend Mass at St. Ann's in Wildwood. The boat would go to Anglesea, and from there, a trolley took the faithful to Wildwood. Sometimes, a sandbar snagged the boat and good intentions were left high and dry while the churchgoers awaited rescue by the Coast Guard. From time to time, Mass was said in a private home where a room was set aside for that rare occasion when a priest might visit the island. There was an abandoned excursion house at the foot of 83rd Street, where Catholic services were housed in the poolroom in the summer of 1910. For it was in June of that year that Msgr. James Moroney, of St. Ann's in Wildwood, was appointed to look after Stone Harbor as a mission. Some twenty-five hearty souls, many of whom trudged the beaches from Avalon and Stone Harbor to get there, worshiped on backless benches before a wooden altar lovingly made by a Catholic workman. Masses were celebrated and confessions were heard every Sunday that summer through Labor Day. Then plans began in earnest to build a church on the plot of ground donated by the realty company and located on the southeast side of 99th Street and Third. While the first bridge was being built to span the inland waterway at 96th Street, the sound of hammers filled the air as a 180 seat, shingled, frame church took form on 99th Street. The Fourth of July weekend in 1911 was memorable indeed. Gov. Woodrow Wilson was on hand to dedicate the new bridge, while the original St. Paul's Church was dedicated on Sunday, July 2.
Adapted with permission from St. Paul's Church Diamond Anniversary Publication, 1988. Please call the Rectory at 368-3091 for information.
