The Immaculate Conception Church, known colloquially as Palmer Road Church is a 19th-century

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located in Palmer Road, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The church is a white wooden

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

architecture, and it was constructed in 1892. — site now defunct, reference taken from cached version. As of 2014, the church offers Saturday, Sunday and weekday services, and it serves Palmer Road,

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, Miminegash, Pleasant View, Skinner's Pond, southern

Harper Road Harper Road may refer to: * Harper Road, London, a road in south London, England * Harper Road, Singapore, a road in Road transport in Singapore, Singapore * Prince Edward Island Route 158, officially known as Harper Road {{Road disambiguation ...

, and other communities. The church is located at the intersection of Routes

155 Year 155 ( CLV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 908 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 155 for this year ...

and

156 Year 156 ( CLVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silvanus and Augurinus (or, less frequently, year 909 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 156 for thi ...

, across from the ''Palmer Road Community Center''.

History

The original church at the site was built in 1867, and was originally known as the St. Thomas Mission, a mission of the St. Simon & St. Jude Church in nearby

Tignish Tignish is a Canadian town located in Prince County, Prince Edward Island. It is located approximately northwest of the city of Summerside, and northwest of the city of Charlottetown. It has a population of 719. The name "Tignish" is derived ...

. In 1878, the church separated from St. Simon & St. Jude and became its

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

. In 1890, the original church burned down, and was replaced by the now-existing church in 1892. Designed by Francois Xavier Edouard Meloche (1855–1917) to replace the original, much smaller mission which was destroyed by fire on May 24, 1890, the cornerstone was laid on August 15, 1892 on The Feast of the Acadians.''Immaculate Conception Church - Palmer Road 1892-1922-"A Masterpeice of its Kind"'' The church is a wooden

structure, and is the oldest wooden church on Prince Edward Island. The church is an architectural gem of considerable importance, not only to the island, but to Canada as a whole. This is so not only because of its fine design and craftsmanship, both inside and out, but also because of its association with Francois Xavier Meloche, an artist/architect who has yet to take his proper place in the annals of Canadian art. In 2007, it was proposed by overseeing

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Vernon Fougere that the Immaculate Conception parish be dissolved and merged with nearby St. Simon & St. Jude parish due to declining

church attendance Church attendance is a central religious practice for many Christians; some Christian denominations require church attendance on the Lord's Day (Sunday). The Catholic Church teaches that on Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithf ...

. This proposal was largely rejected by Immaculate Conception pastor Fr. Arthur Pendergast and parishioners alike.

References

{{Coord, 46.9562, -64.1010, region:CA-PE_type:landmark, display=title Roman Catholic churches in Prince Edward Island Churches in Prince County, Prince Edward Island Historic buildings and structures in Prince Edward Island

History

See also

References