About St. Brigid
St. Brigid Parish was founded and opened in 1870. It was located in North Memphis at Overton and Third Streets in the “Pinch District.” Its opening decade (1870-1880) is largely the story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic, in which St. Brigid’s pastors, Father Martin and William Walsh, played heroic roles. Their successor, Father Moening, a Franciscan, was mainly pastor of St. Mary’s and was therefore a German Franciscan, an odd choice for an Irish at St. Brigid’s. But how Irish was the congregation? Among the first communicants were such names Smiddy and Zape, in a list of Foleys, Griffins, and the like. In 1917, when Father James P. Whitfield became pastor, the old church was remodeled. The Parish operated a grade school throughout much of its history. The church and school were finally closed in 1937-1938 when the new Parish of St. Therese, Little Flower, was opened on Jackson Avenue by Msgr. James P. Whitefield. The church records were transferred to St. Mary Church at Third and Market, located just a few blocks south of St. Brigid. The building of St. Brigid became a storage warehouse, which was later razed. The site is now a vacant lot.
