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History of St. Mary of the Presentation
 

According to records at St. Paul’s Church in Portsmouth, from 1804 the priests of Norfolk attended the entire surrounding  territory, including Suffolk. In 1835 St. Paul’s received its first  resident pastor and for nearly 100 years a priest from St. Paul’s served  Suffolk. While it is not recorded when the first Mass in Suffolk took  place, the earliest on known was in 1873 and was celebrated By Father  Thomas J. Brady of St Paul's at the Suffolk home of Mrs. Elfrida Holland  Lewis.
 

By 1908 there were 10 Catholic families in Suffolk. The  original St. Mary's Women's Club was founded in 1908 and members went  door-to-door asking for contributions to build a new church.
 

The lot chosen for the church was on the corner of Smith and Broad  Streets, St. Mary's present location. The lot cost $500 and the church  cost $1200 to build and seated about 100 people. With about 40 families  now in the Parish, Bishop Van de Vyver, Bishop of Richmond, dedicated  the new Church on November 12, 1909.
 

It was not until 1927 that  Father Joseph V. Brennan, the first resident pastor, was assigned to  St. Mary's. In 1929 a mission of St. Mary's was established in Franklin  and in 1948 was dedicated as St. Jude's Parish. In July of 1964, the  Catholic Community of Smithfield was established as a mission of St.  Mary's and in 1988 was named the Parish of the Good Shepherd.
 

As the Parish grew so did the need for a larger church. In July 1953 the  original wooden building was moved to the rear of the church site and  turned to face Smith Street. The present church was built in 1953-54 and  dedicated on September 12, 1954. The old church was torn down in 1975  and replaced with the present two-story parish hall and education  building.