St. Mary was formally established in January 1966 by Archbishop Joseph Hurley. He appointed Fr. James A. Larkin as the first pastor of St. Mary parish.

For the first few months, Mass was celebrated at Seely’s Restaurant, which is now the Apex Publix. They started with 34 parishioners and gradually increased in size having them move Mass to Mort Elementary School.

In August of 1967, ground breaking began on the new church with the first Mass being celebrated on March 31, 1968 with over 480 parishioners. To this day, some of the original families from the Seely Restaurant days are still parishioners.