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Astoria, in the late 1800’s was a quiet little village in Long Island City but after the turn of the century, the village started to grow and eventually would turn the entire are into a major industrial, commercial, and residential center. By the 1920’s more than 9 million Catholics had immigrated to the United States with several thousand choosing to settle in this still-green section of New York City. This was the Astoria that Father Michael Lopez found in the post-World War 1 year of 1924.
Drawing primarily upon the residents of the recently completed Metropolitan Housing Project as the nucleus for his first congregation, Father Lopez conducted the parish’s first mass on January 27, 1924 at 2819 Ditmars Avenue, the home of Dr. John J. Dempsey. The worshipers numbered twenty-four. In just one month, the congregation had grown to six hundred, an increase which resulted in the hiring of “Offenbacher’s Hall” on Second Avenue to accommodate these rapidly expanding needs and it was here that Immaculate Conception’s first organizational meeting was held on the night of February 6, 1924.
With great zeal the founding pastor and his parish plunged into the work of building and a plot of land, 50 by 325 feet, facing Ditmars Avenue and Lawrence Street (now twenty-Ninth) was obtained. A tent was erected and as the weather turned warmer and the congregation outgrew Offenbacher’s Hall, services were held here. In the meantime, Dr Dempsey’s home was purchased as a rectory. On July 26, 1924, only seven months after the first Mass was said, the cornerstone was laid for the Immaculate Conception Church-School. Because of the energy and dedication of those pioneers, on October 4, 1924, Father Lopez stepped to the altar of the newly completed basement church, the only part of the building that was ready for occupancy. Christmas, 1924 saw the Upper Church and a four classroom school completed and we welcomed the arrival of the Sisters of St Francis, to staff our school. In 1929, a new wing was added to our building, enlarging our school from four classrooms to ten.
In 1933, Father Lopez was transferred and Bishop Molloy appointed the Reverend Edward Higgins our new Pastor. Fr. Higgins proved himself to be a remarkable man of God, whose very presence spurred an era of growth and expansion for the parish. His first step was to bring more assistant priests to the parish enabling an increased schedule of Sunday and week-day Masses, which was quickly followed by the introduction of a devotion to the Blessed mother. This was the Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, later to become a hallmark of the parish. A grotto was constructed in 1934 in honor of Our Lady, depicting the apparitions of St Bernadette at Lourdes. It stood on Ditmars Avenue and twenty-Ninth Street until 1940, when it was relocated to the school yard.
Fr. Higgins, who had served as a Lieutenant Chaplain in WWI instituted, in 1934, established an organization which would grow into a far-reaching movement what eventually encompassed all of the United States. Recognizing that his fellow Catholic veterans could be a great influence for good if they were organized, and with the blessings of Pope Pius XI and Bishop Molloy, he founded the Catholic War Veterans “for the glory of God and Nation”.
Building began again in the 1930’s when a new convent and rectory were erected. In 1939, the need for a new church was evident; therefore a building fund was instituted. This was greatly enhanced when our founding pastor, Fr Lopez passed away and left more than sixty-three thousand dollars to aid in building a new church. Unfortunately, with the start of WW2, all thoughts of parish development where laid aside, as drives for Victory Bonds took their place. Seventeen hundred and fifty-seven young people from the parish entered the Armed Services. Twenty-five of those servicemen never came home, and in their memory a Memorial Solemn High Requiem Mass is celebrated on Veteran’s Day each year.
The Fifties and Sixties brought not only a changing world but a changing church as well. Immaculate Conception once again started to formulate plans for a program of building. By 1964, Catholic school enrollment in America reached an all time high and urban areas, such as Astoria, were particularly affected. On May 23, 1965, Bishop McEntegart dedicated an addition to Immaculate Conception’s school. In 1969, the convent was extended and in 1971, a chapel on Twenty-First Avenue was dedicated to minister to the Spanish-speaking people of the parish.
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