St. Benedict's Church

The story of St. Benedict’s parish “in the Neck,” as it was then and still is called by real Newarkers, is an interesting facet of the St. Mary’s story. This parish began as a mission from St. Mary’s in 1854. Everybody could see that the long distance from the  Neck to High Street impeded not only children but also grownups to assist the services. There was therefore need for another church and school to be dedicated to St. Joseph. The people in Neck built a two story building which sadly was demolished by a powerful wind storm. The people of Neck did not lose courage and rebuilt, but a priest came from St. Mary’s only intermittently and soon not at all.

In fact, the place was officially overlooked, not even being listed in the diocesan Catholic Almanac, and another church with the same name of St. Joseph was built in Newark. The people of the Neck did not forget, however, and pressed for the revival of the church now to be dedicated to St. Benedict. The anonymous author from whom this account is drawn points out that “the Morris Canal would soon be opened along with a port in the vicinity and that they have built a new railroad to New York and so this will become a very important spot in a short time.”