Our Lady of Peace

Our Lady of Peace was established in 1941.  Before the parish was founded, local Catholics had to travel to Freedom to attend Mass.  Early in 1941, the pastor of St. Felix in Freedom advised the Catholics of Conway to secure a place of worship in Conway.  The Capuchin Friars at St. Cecilia, Rochester, agreed to take responsibility for the new parish.  In March of 1941, an old store room was leased and renovated.  On March 30, 1941, the first Mass in Conway was celebrated.

In 1942, the parish purchased land to build a church.  However, they were unable to begin construction due to a shortage of building materials caused by the war.  The rented store room continued to serve the congregation until 1946.  In that year, the state announced its plans to widen the highway, which required the demolition of the leased store room.  Unable to build a proper church, the parish instead built a quonset hut to be used as a temporary church.  The quonset hut was dedicated on December 22, 1946.

In 1954, the parish received permission to build another temporary church.  This new church was to be constructed of brick and would eventually be converted to classrooms.  Ground was broken in the summer of 1954 and the completed church was dedicated on December 11, 1955.  The quonset hut was then converted to a CCD school.  This arrangement worked for awhile, but the parish soon needed more space for catechism classes.  In 1961, the parish received permission to build a new church.  Ground was broken on September 2, 1962.  The cornerstone was laid on February 20, 1963, and the completed church was dedicated on May 19, 1964.  While construction was going on, the parish purchased a home to be used a rectory.  Up until that time, the pastors of Our Lady of Peace resided in Rochester.  After the new church was built, the former church was renovated and converted into a Catechetical Center.