Home / About Assumption Church / Assumption School / Religious Education / RCIA / Youth Ministry
Mass Schedule / Weekly Bulletin / Daily Prayers & Links / Fellowship / Contact Info / History / Events

Reflect, Rekindle, Renew
The celebration of the centennial year of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Beautiful River is a celebration of the Catholic faith. It was faith that inspired the people of Assumption from its first moment. It was faith that led to great sacrifice as the parish grew, resulting in financial challenges. It was faith that sustained seven pastors, countless priests and women religious, and thousands of parishioneers over the past 100 years - all working for the greater glory of God and to server the spiritual and temporarl needs of the parish.

In 1903, the Diocese of Pittsburgh established 13 new Catholic parishes. Of those parishes, only three remain as founded. Assumption is one of those three parishes. The centennial theme - Reflect, Rekindle, Renew - reminds us that celebrating a centennial means more than just reflecting on the past. Recognizing the at the present has been built on the rich traditions of the past, it is time to look forward. It is a time to rekindle the spirit of those who came before, and in doing so, bring forth new life and growth. It is a time to renew the commitmentthat so moved the early parishioners and to lay a new foundation fo rthe next generation that will gather to praise God and serve each other as members of Assumption parish.

Birth of a Parish
In the years just prior to 1900, Bellevue, Pennsylvania, began to fofer choice home sties with yards and gardens to entice people from the more crowded city neighborhoods of Old Allegheny (now known as the North Side)and the City of Pittsburgh. The Catholics who moved out of the City attended Mass at either St. Francis Xavier Church on California Avenue, or Sacred Heart in Emsworth. By 1903, this small band of pioneers discussed founding their own parish. Bishop Richard Phelan of the Pittsburgh diocese agreed and sent Father Israel J. McGovern, assistant at St. Mary's in Lawrenceville, to eastablish a parish in Bellevue.

THe first Mass was celebrated in Greenough Hall, a meeting and dance hall located above a livery stable on Rogers Avenue, now Balph Avenue (the present site of Classic Chevrolet). The United Presbyterian Church loaned chairs and the altar was borrowed. On that day, there was a smallpox scare in Avalon, and the Bellevue authorities posted guards at the borough lines to prevent people from entering Avalon. Not to be denied the privilege of attending the first Mass, Avalon residents walked back a few streets, boarded a streetcar, and rode past the guards to Mass. At 8 a.m. on Sunday morning, September 13, 1903, with 75 people in attendance at the first Mass, the parish community of hte Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Beutiful River was born.

A Beautiful Name
Our parish history actually reaches further back than 1903. The first Mass west of the Allegheny Mountains was said in Pittsburgh in April of 1754 on the banks of the Ohio River. The little chapel in which the Mass was held was known as The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Beautiful River. Bishop Richard Phelan, wishing to perpetuate the name, directed the new parish in Bellevue to bear the same name.

As we reflect on the humble beginnings of this parish in 1903, consider these historical facts:
* Theodore Roosevelt was President
* The Boston Red Sox won the first World Series by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5 games to 3
* Average income was $703 per year
* Bread was 4 cents a loaf and milk was 29 cents a gallon
* An automobile cost $500 and a home cost $4,000
* The DOW Average was 49
* Ellis Islan welcomed immagrants at a rate of 100 every hour