In the early 1800’s in Little River (later Bayfield), there was a growing Anglican community and soon, under the leadership of T.H. White and Mrs Luman Atwater, a strong churchwoman, funds were raised for the erection of a chapel. By 1838 records state this building was in use at Little River.
By the 1850’s there was work on a new and larger Church on the site where the present Church of Saint Mary-the-Virgin stands in Bayfield. This building would serve the community of Bayfield for some forty years until it was destroyed by fire in the late 1890’s. It was replaced at the turn of the century by this present church.
This church stands as a fine example of the faith and devotion of the community which by this time had become the main Anglican presence in the County. In fact, St. Mary’s had become the parish church in 1856 when the new rectory was built in Little River following the sale of the first rectory in Antigonish. St. Mary’s remained the parish church from 1856 until 1966 when the rectory was again moved to the Town of Antigonish.
