Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, colloquially known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, is a historic church located in Fall River, Massachusetts. It is the cathedral and a parish church in the Diocese of Fall River. Built from 1852 to 1856, the cathedral and adjacent rectory were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, as St. Mary's Cathedral and Rectory. It is the oldest extant church building in the city of Fall River, and was one of the city's first Catholic parishes. The cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Assumption.

There were not enough Catholics in Fall River in the early 19th century to form a parish, so they were visited occasionally by a visiting priest. Property was finally acquired in 1835 from Peter McLarrin for $659. The parish of St. John the Baptist was established in 1838 and a small frame church building was constructed. Large numbers of Irish immigrants came to Fall River in the 1840s to work in the mills and they soon overwhelmed the small church.

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