Our Histories

St. Anthony of Padua was founded August 10, 1866 as a mission of St. Paul Parish in Hingham.  Fr. John Roddan was the first priest to minister to the mission church of St. Anthony and the congregation that worshiped there.  Construction began on what was the original Church (pictured below) in 1875.  It was located on South Main Street, across from where the rectory currently stands.

Original St. Anthony of Padua Church on S Main Street, Cohasset
On August 17, 1886, St. Anthony's was established as its own independent Parish with its own mission churches in North Scituate (eventually, the now-closed St. Frances Xavier Cabrini church and parish) and in Scituate Harbor (St. Mary of the Nativity church and parish, still in existence).

Our current church building located on Summer Street (pictured below) was built in 1964 during the pastorate of Fr. Joseph Brennan.


Current St. Anthony Church on the corner of Summer Street & S Main Street, Cohasset
St. Anthony's Church has a statue with a unique history: the sign below it details that this statue of the Saint, known for finding lost things, was itself lost on its journey to Cohasset Saint Anthony's Church from Portugal. Many years later, the staute was found and was placed inside the church, where it currently remains. The statue is carved from a solid piece of wood and brought from the Azores to Cohasset.