St. Mary's of Manhasset is today, in 2007, a sprawling, prosperous parish. It was not always thus. On July 29, 1853 the Reverend John J. McMahon, who was then pastor of St. Michael's Church in Flushing wrote to Bishop John Hughes of the See of New York (the diocese of Brooklyn had not yet been established) asking permission to establish a mission church at Manhasset for the few German and Irish Catholic farmers in the area.On this same day, July 29, 1853 Pope Pius IX established the diocese of Brooklyn (including the counties of Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk) and named Rev. John Loughlin as its first Bishop; thus Fr. McMahon was no longer under the jurisdiction of Bishop Hughes.

In his original letter to Bishop Hughes, Father McMahon asked permission to "solicit subscriptions (ask for donations) in the city to erect a small church at Manhasset-for the residents were too poor in spirit and in material wealth to help themselves." It is not known whether he ever received permission for such a subscription but, judging by his rapid departure from the country, it probably came to naught.On the left at the top, is a photograph of the actual church which was reported to be "hot in summer and cold in winter in spite of its two pot-bellied stoves, one in the middle aisle and the other up near the altar." The church building was dedicated on Oct. 4, 1857 and served the people of St Mary's until Aug. 15, 1917 when the present church (about half its present size) opened.