History UnderfootAtlanta
  • Church
  • Early
  • parish 1848; frame church 1851
  • City of Atlanta
  • Location approximate

Immaculate Conception Church (1848/1851)

Atlanta's first Catholic parish was established in 1848, and its first building, a frame church, went up on this site in 1851.

See it on the map All Early records

The record

The GHS marker says Father Thomas O'Reilly persuaded Union Gen. H. W. Slocum in 1864 to spare the church and neighborhood, saving it, four other churches and the City Hall-courthouse. The present building's cornerstone was laid in 1869 and it was dedicated in 1873; it was listed on the National Register in 1976. The marker calls it the oldest complete building standing in downtown Atlanta.

Today: 48 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr SW.