The beginnings of St. Mary’s Parish took place on March 15, 1907. The first mass was held in the home of Thomas Galvin, with Father Powers of the Toms River Parish as celebrant. Later, Father Domonic of the Abbey in Newark became celebrant. Fourteen people attended this mass. On November 16, 1907, the Barnegat Select School property was conveyed to the Church of St. Thomas Aquinas, Beach Haven, NJ, by George C. Warren and Matilda Warre, his wife, by deed. The Barnegat Select School was then converted into a church and became a mission church of St. Thomas Aquinas.

It wasn’t until July 7, 1942 that St. Mary’s was officially incorporated as a Parish. St. Thomas Aquinas turned the church over to St. Mary’s on November 24, 1942.