Mother of Sorrows Parish at Catawba Avenue, Put-in-Bay, OH 43456 US - BACKGROUND

The first recorded incidence of Catholic worship on the Bass Islands occurred in 1680 when Father Hennepin, who accompanied the famous French explorer Robert de LaSalle, said Mass at Middle Bass Island.  Those early explorers did not make permanent settlements on the islands.  Mass was said at very infrequent intervals by passing priests from then until 1866 when the Diocese of Cleveland established a Put-In-Bay Mission Parish.  The first Pastor was Fr. Kueman and Mass was said at the Henry Burggraff family residence off East Point Road from 1866 through 1875.

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