History

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The Borough of Media was incorporated in 1850 as the new county seat of Delaware County.  Priests from St. Thomas the Apostle parish in Ivy Mills established a mission in Media.  During the 1850’s, Mass was celebrated in various local homes.

The first Catholic Church in Media was built by area Catholics on the corner of Franklin and Church Streets. The church was dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Even after the Church was built, Media was reliant on Priests from other towns to say Mass, hear confessions and perform baptisms, funerals and marriages.  This first church, now known as “The Brick Building’, later became a parish school, and still later a parish hall.

The current church, built in the gothic style of architecture, was dedicated in December of 1882. It stands on the opposite corner of Franklin Street from the original Brick Church on the corner of Franklin and Monroe Streets.  Father Henry Wright left Saint Thomas to become the first pastor of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

From its humble beginnings as a “mission church”, Nativity BVM parish today is a thriving group of over 1,500 families.

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