St. Ambrose Church

Name: St. Ambrose Church
Address: 6070 Church Road, Elkton, FL, 32033, US
Telephone: (904) 692-1366

Elkton's historic rural church honoring the area's early settlers and farmers.

St. Ambrose Church

(904) 692-1366

6070 Church Road
Elkton, FL 32033

A Rural Catholic Mission

Located about 12 miles southwest of St. Augustine in the Moccasin Branch area of Elkton, St. Ambrose Parish was established in 1875 by Father Stephen Langlade, a skilled French carpenter and missionary who built the first wood-frame church at the site. It originally served migrant and multilingual settlers of Spanish, Irish, Minorcan, Greek, and Italian heritage.

The St. Ambrose Catholic Church in St. Augustine, located among the live oaks

Building Parish Life in the Late 19th Century

Originally, Mass was celebrated for Catholic settlers in a barn on the Solano farm. Father Langlade arrived to create a permanent parish presence. Supported by local families, each promised five pine logs for construction, and Langlade built the church, rectory, school, convent, and later a larger stone church by 1907.

From 1881 to 1948, generations of children attended the parish school, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph, until the school closed in the mid-20th century.

The exterior of the St. Ambrose Catholic Church

Architecture & Features

St. Ambrose’s early builds reflected the skilled craftsmanship of Father Langlade. The original 1875 church was hand-hewn, later replaced in 1907 by a larger structure. A second convent followed after the first burned in 1917, and a parish hall was added in 1938.

The rustic rural setting, once an orange grove, features a historic cemetery with family names such as Ashton, Lopez, Masters, and Solano, linking the present-day parish to its founding families.

An annual tradition for more than 100 years, the St. Ambrose Church will host its spring fair in April 2022 after a two-year hiatus.

Continuing Mission & Cultural Legacy

Originally founded to serve a farming community of immigrant heritage, the church continues to play an active role within the community, hosting events throughout the year and keeping their doors open for service. Though it does not fall within our urban trail of historic churches, its intact buildings and grounds tell the story of Catholic outreach to early settlers in Northeast Florida.