St. Ann Catholic Church - Washington

St. Ann's Church is a non-profit parish that serves more than 800 Catholic families in Northwest Washington, D.C. We serve the local community through fundraising projects and service activities, provide education to youth in grades K-12, and serve the spiritual needs of our members through church services and opportunities that enable members to be the Body of Christ. Through annual and biannual campaigns, we support organizations like Friendship Place, which aims to end homelessness, and partner with groups like the Tenleytown Historical Society to promote events for the community. The church is located one block south of the Tenleytown/American University red line metro stop.

St. Ann’s Church is the oldest Catholic parish in the part of Washington, DC which lies west of Rock Creek Park and north of Georgetown. The present-day church is the third on the site, and is a larger version of a church designed by the same architect who designed the cathedral for the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

The origins of the parish go back to the middle of the 19th century. In 1847, Georgetown College purchased a farm and a house on present-day Wisconsin Avenue. Each was used as a place for recreation and a retreat house. During the Civil War, Tenleytown became the site of one of the strongest forts that protected the nation’s capital and was a place for training and encampment. Local Catholics asked the Jesuits at Georgetown College to establish a Sunday mission church. A small wooden church was opened in 1867, across from the juncture of Wisconsin Avenue and Grant Road.

A second parish church with a Neo-Classic style and a stone structure, was completed in 1903 and is located at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Yuma Street NW.

Construction of the current church began in 1946. The church was dedicated in 1948, with a dedicatory sermon by the Most Reverend Patrick A. O’Boyle, the first Archbishop of Washington.

Who We Are

St. Ann Roman Catholic Church in Northwest DC celebrates our 150th anniversary this year! Follow our events: stanndc.org/150