St. John the Baptist, Perth, 1823

St. John the Baptist, Perth, 1823. . , Roman Catholics began to settle in the Perth area from 1816 onwards. They were served by visiting missionary priests until 1823 when Father John Macdonald became the first resident pastor of the new parish which embraced most of the present-day Ottawa Valley area. The second resident pastor, Rev. John McDonagh, built the present Gothic-Revival style church in 1848., The origin of all the Catholic parishes in Lanark County and beyond, St. John the Baptist has also been the source of much Catholic activity locally in worship, education and charity. From the time of the Irish potato famine in the latter 1840's the parish has had a predominantly Irish flavour while always welcoming peoples from many other parts of the world., The Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul came from Kingston to Perth on December 26, 1892. They taught at St. John's Elementary School until 1988 and over the years have also fostered musical training, assisted in the church and done pastoral visiting., St. John's can be proud of its history: , -as the first Roman Catholic parish in the Ottawa Valley , - as the second Roman Catholic parish in the Kingston Archdiocese , - as the sixth Roman Catholic parish to be established in Ontario, This plaque was blessed and dedicated on Sunday, June 21, 1998, the 175th , anniversary of the foundation of the parish, by the most Rev. Francis J. Spence, , Archbishop of Kingston and a son of the parish..