St. John's was built in 1877 by Fathers Wynne and
McDermott. From 1879 the church was officially part of St. Peter's Parish. The altars were
installed before 1889 by Father Lynott and the church was extensively repaired between
1889 and 1901.
Antrim was a coal mining town and about 90 percent of
the Catholics were of Polish decent. Although the church was officially served by St.
Peter's, the earliest church records (1896) show that visiting Polish priests were
performing the duties of the church. These priests would travel from place to place
visiting Polish congregations that had no regularly assigned pastor.
As mining declined in the area, so did the number of
church members. In 1976, only a dozen people at most were attending the church. Father
Hannigan said the last Mass in October of 1976.
Antrim Catholic
Cemetery
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BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ANTRIM CATHOLIC
CEMETERY
The Antrim Catholic Cemetery
is unique as it is part of a larger Cemetery. The other two-thirds
is Protestant. The land for the cemetery was given to the people of
Antrim in the late 1870's as a burial place, by William Howell, whose
company owned Antrim at that time. In 1895, a portion of this land
was deeded to William O'Hara, Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton for the
sum of one dollar. The earliest dated stone in the Catholic Cemetery
is 1886. There are many unmarked graves and no cemetery map exists.
There has never been a charge for burial here. There is a Catholic
Cemetery Association that maintains it.
