St. Mary Star of the Sea (Vermont)

St. Mary Star of the Sea, a Roman Catholic church, is located at the crest of Prospect Street, Newport, Vermont, overlooking Lake Memphremagog. It serves a community of more than 1000 families.

An unknown Canadian priest celebrated the first mass in Newport in 1840 at a place called Indian Point.

The parish was founded in 1873 when Rev. John Stephen Michaud became its first resident pastor. For several years, he celebrated mass in a schoolhouse. In 1875, he purchased some land on a hillside overlooking the lake. Shortly after, the first St. Mary's was built on Pleasant Street, in what was then Newport Village. This wood-frame structure is now the Knights of Columbus Hall. The cornerstone for the building was laid on July 4, 1875, and the finished church, capable of seating 250, was blessed in 1877. The cost of the project, including grounds, was $6,135.37. The name, "Star of the Sea", was chosen because the view of the lake seemed to coincide with a venerable church title for Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The rectory was built in 1877 next to the west side of the church. Later, a wing was added for school classrooms. Children were taught, first by lay teachers, then by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who arrived in 1905. This building still stands next to the Knights of Columbus hall.

In 1892, the congregation outgrew its church.

Fr. Clermont acquired several parcels of land on Prospect Street. On one he built a wood-frame parish hall. This building later became the Sacred Heart School and Convent. Excavation for the church began in 1903. The cornerstone was laid in 1904.

From the quarries in and around Newport came granite stones, some of them 33 inches (84 cm) thick. The labor was by local stonecutters and other locals. The support was from the 350 or so parish families and the non-parishioners of the community. Clermont often labored with the construction workers.

The Daughters of Charity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus came from France at his request in 1905. They also staffed and operated the White House hospital, on a hill above the parish hall. The hospital eventually became Maison St. Joseph, a boarding residence for grade school age boys attending Sacred Heart School. These buildings no longer exist.

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