[2] The Jesuit superiors in Spain abandoned the Florida missions in 1572 and the missionaries were recalled to Mexico.

However, the Native peoples on the Keys were unpredictable and the English raiders from the Carolinas forced the missionaries to return to Cuba in 1727.

[3] Two Italian Jesuits from Havana opened a mission chapel on Key West in 1743 for the Native peoples.

John F. Kirby was sent by Bishop Francis X. Gartland of the Diocese of Savannah to Key West in 1851 and established St. Mary Star of the Sea parish in 1851.

The first permanent Catholic Church on Key West was dedicated on February 26, 1852, on the corner of Duval and Eaton Streets.

[3] Because of its location between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean it was placed under the patronage of Our Lady, Star of the Sea.

Five Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary from Montreal, Quebec, Canada arrived in 1868 to open a school for girls and to establish a convent.

[7] In 1983 the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary ended their service in Key West after 115 years.