A Brief History of St. Michael's Church - Georgiaville, RI.

After the Civil War in our nation, a wave of immigrants poured in from the north - the French Canadians. They brought with them a strong and unswerving loyalty to the Catholic Faith. Thousands sought employment in Rhode Island's mushrooming textile industry. By 1853, villages such as Greenville, which was primarily Irish, Sprague Ville, and Georgiaville began to grow. (The village of Georgiaville originated and was named after a cotton mill, the Georgiaville Cotton Manufacturing Company, which was founded in 1813.)
 
By 1868, it was decided that a parish should be created in the Georgiaville area. Several parcels of land were conveyed to Bishop McFarland, but it took seven years for an actual building to be erected on Homestead Avenue. Even so, there are records that show by 1872, religious services were being held in Georgiaville.   No record exists that would indicate where Masses were held, but the 1872 annual report of St . Philip's records that Pew rents were collected in Georgiaville. On February 17, 1875, St. Michael's, Georgiaville was incorporated and three months later a $3000 mortgage was secured from the Smithfield Savings Bank. On May 11, 1875, the cornerstone for St. Michael’s was laid and on October 24^th of that year, the building was dedicated by Bishop Hendricken.
From 1875 through 1963, St. Michael's had over 11 Pastors. In 1963, Rev. J. Leo Lyons was appointed. During his tenure, it was determined that the church building on Homestead Ave. was rapidly becoming unsafe. In January of 1963, the first steps were taken toward the goal of building a new place of worship for Georgiaville’s Catholics. Three parcels of land were purchased on Farnum Pike by Bishop McVlnney. In September of 1965 it was announced that a new church building would be built on that property and in February of 1966, a building contract was awarded to Donatelli Construction Company. Construction of the parish complex was completed in December 1967 and the new St. Michael's was dedicated on December 17^th with a Pontifical Mass celebrated by Most Rev. Russell J. McVlnney.
In 2001, a complete renovation of the inside of the church began.  On January 2^nd, modifications to the pew design, carpets, lighting, the sanctuary size and other cosmetic changes began and were completed by Palm Sunday of that year.  Today, the parish can hold approximately 650 people and services French Canadians, Italians, Irish, Portuguese and many other nationalities.  Over 2000 families are registered and religious instruction is provided to over 350 children and young adults.
 

HISTORY BEHIND ST. MICHAEL'S STATUE

“looooong story short,  when I was a Fire/Arson Investigator there was a rash of fires off of Broadway on a dead-end street (Bell) that was a former convent that got abandoned due to the building of Rte.10 connector to Rte.95. There was a heavy thick area of overgrown brush along with abandoned buildings and some very much vandalized and broken statues on the property. One night during a fire I was drawn to the middle of the brush looking for evidence, and the statue of St Michael appeared all hidden from the deep thick overgrowth. Although it was in bad shape I thought it worth salvaging. It took me quite a long time to track down a rightful owner in Springfield MA who I convinced l only wanted to save the statue and give it to my parish in Smithfield.. I arranged for the owner to sell it to Fr. Schenek for a dollar. Other parishioners namely Dan Ciatola
and Fran Chartier (both R.I.P.) assisted in retrieving it and bringing it to Smithfield, before vandals destroyed it, as the statue became exposed in the now burnt out brush do to the rash of fires. It really was somewhat miraculous that all things fell into place. Fran and Dave spent a lot of hours restoring it to it's beauty as we now see it. Fr. Valentine was newly assigned as our pastor replacing retired Fr. Scheneck who was thinking of placing the statue in the rear of the church hall. It was Fr Valentine who asked Larry and others to see if they could prepare a spot on the hill overlooking the grounds where it now is. Fr Valentine had a nice dedication and blessing of the statue in the first few months of his ministry to our parish. There were a lot of other hurdles and bumps in the road but that's it in a nutshell. There was a nice article in THE OBSERVER at the time of the dedication telling more of the details.


May he be ever watching over us and our loved one's as I'm sure he is!”
 
Richard F Kless
Parishioner of St. Michael's Church