St. Anne Catholic Church has been a landmark in Richmond Hill, Georgia for as long as many can remember.  Since the mid-1950s, the church has been ministering to the needs of this community.

Automobile magnate Henry Ford and his wife Clara had the Martha-Mary Chapel built in 1937 near the Community House and the Ways Station School.  It was named for the mothers of Henry Ford (Mary), and Clara Ford (Martha).  A wooden plaque with this name still proudly hangs to the right of the altar.

The chapel was one of six that Mr. Ford built around the country as nondenominational churches in honor of their mothers.  The architecture was inspired by New England's colonial-era churches, and architect Edward J. Cutler patterned it after a church in Bradford, Massachusetts that Mr. Ford admired.  The lumber used in the pews, tables, and other furnishings for the chapel came from the Ford Plantation sawmill and was constructed in the local plantation carpentry shop.

The chapel was used daily by students of the adjacent Ways Station school.  On Sundays, the chapel was used for community worship services, led by the people.

Henry Ford died on April 7, 1947.  After Clara Ford passed away on September 29, 1950, the Ford Foundation sold the majority of his land holdings to the International Paper Company.  The chapel ceased to be used.  

A very small community of about 30 Catholics lived in the area.  Having no church of their own, most traveled 17 miles to Savannah on Sundays to worship.  The distance imposed a burden on them, for most were poor and could not easily afford the weekly trip.

On September 16, 1951, Bishop Francis E. Hyland arranged for Mass to be offered each Sunday at the Courthouse in Ways Station; 20 people attended the first Mass.  At the time, the community was known as the Mission of St. Joseph.

A few years later, Bishop Hyland arranged for the Martha-Mary Chapel to become the property of the Diocese of Savannah, through the generosity of Mr. Gilbert Verney of New Hampshire.  Mr. Verney was in the textile business and had intentions of building a mill in Richmond Hill.  Though he was an Episcopalian, he employed several Catholics, some of whom considered moving south to Richmond Hill, and he wanted them to be able to worship in town.

The newly renovated mission chapel of St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was dedicated on June 13, 1955, with only five registered families and a few Catholic soldiers from Hinesville.

On November 1, 1987, Bishop Raymond W. Lessard raised the Mission to the status of a Parish.

In the early 2000s, the Catholic community of Richmond Hill began to outgrow the Martha-Mary Chapel, which has a capacity of about 250 parishioners per Mass.

The Holy Family Hall was built behind the Martha-Mary Chapel in 2004 to house the parish office, parish social events, religious education, and Sacramental preparation classes for Holy Communion and Confirmation.  Because of the rapid growth of the parish, it was modified to include an altar fitted with 500 folding chairs and kneeling pads to facilitate a place for parishioners to attend Mass.

The parish soon outgrew that worship space as well, so a new church adjacent to the Holy Family Hall was built and dedicated on February 6, 2016.  The new space is approximately 24,000 square feet, which comfortably seats 1,000 for each Mass.

The Martha-Mary Chapel is part of the history and tradition of this parish and community.