St. Agatha Parish was officially established on June 19, 1922, the same date that Fr. Eugene A. Carney was appointed Pastor. Fr. Carney, born in 1872 and ordained in 1899, had previously been assigned to St. Patrick’s in Roxbury. He took up residence initially by renting a house at 431 Adams Street owned by Bessie Maze. Later that year he received permission from the Cardinal to buy the house at 431 Adams Street which he did. It was not until the fall of 1925 that Fr. Carney sold the house at 431 Adams and bought the house across the street at 432 Adams for $12,500. The house that was on the site at the time looked nearly identical to the current Rectory, but was made entirely of wood. Interestingly, the granite columns which stand in front of the Rectory today are the very same ones that were there when Fr. Carney bought the property in 1925. At about that time, a parishioner and local police officer by the name of Joseph Duggan learned that the new street bedside St. Agatha Church was to be named Ellsworth Road after a prominent local family. He broached with Fr. Carney the idea of naming the road St. Agatha Road instead. With Fr. Carney’s approval he approached town officials and the street was named St. Agatha Road. The private way directly behind the Church was later named Ellsworth Road. (left: Fr. Eugene A. Carney)

Clearly Cardinal O’Connell had selected Fr. Carney carefully because he was indeed a “force to be reckoned with”. He continued his purchase of land by purchasing the land between the Rectory and the Church from the Town of Milton in 1926. Between 1922 and 1928 parishioners had been diligently raising money through various endeavors to complete the Upper Church. In 1928 the main arch, the naves on either side and the actual altar space were added, although the space remained unfinished. Fr. Carney then petitioned the Cardinal to proceed with the completion of the Upper Church. Unfortunately, the Great Depression ensued, and plans were put on hold until 1935. At that time, Alexander Scholtes was selected as the architect and the John M. Dolan Co. was selected to complete the work for a total of $45,000. During this construction the beautiful stained glass in the naves and behind the altar were installed by the firm of O’Neill & Vaughan. As one faces the altar area today, the windows to the left are male saints, the windows to the right are female saints and the windows behind the altar are the four Evangelists. As the inscription on each section details, the windows to the left were dedicated to the men of the parish, the windows to the right to the women of the parish and the windows behind the altar to the children of the parish. At long last, in 1936 the Upper Church was dedicated and St. Agatha Church was complete and stands today virtually as it did 86 years ago.
 

First Confirmation Class 1926

The Mass schedule at that time was published as follows:
                Sundays:              7:30, 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30 – Sunday School after the 8:30 Mass
                Week Day:          7:30
                First Friday:         6:00, 7:30 – Holy Hour in the evening at 8:00
                Confessions:      Afternoons 3:45 to 5:45
                                             Evenings 7:30 to 9:00

Church in 1928 after additions were completed