The parish of Our Lady of the Assumption was established in 1951 by the Most Reverend Gerald P. O’Hara, Archbishop, Bishop of the then Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta. The archbishop appointed Monsignor Joseph E. Moylan, P.A., who had been serving as vicar general of the diocese, as the first pastor of the new parish. The Reverend Charles J. Mahoney, C.S.C., was the first assistant pastor.

Ten acres of land were purchased in Oglethorpe Estates on Hearst Circle as the sight for the parish. Construction began immediately on the school-chapel building and the convent. Before the completion of the chapel Mass was offered at the old Lawson General Hospital and later in the auditorium of the Jim Cherry School. The chapel in the school building was first used in May of 1952.

Father Mahoney was recalled by his religious community in May of 1953. He was replaced as assistant pastor by Father John D. Stapleton, now pastor of St. Jude’s. Monsignor Moylan was called to Ireland in January of 1954 by Archbishop O’Hara for six months. During his absence the parish was administered by the late Monsignor Cornelius L. Maloney. Father Richard B. Morrow now pastor at Carrollton was appointed second assistant in May of 1955.

The school opened in 1952 with the first five grades and a kindergarten. There were 176 children registered. Sister Mary Assumption of the Sisters of Mercy was appointed the first Superior and Sister Mary Christine, R.S.M., the first principal. Also serving on the first faculty were Sister Mary Mercia, R.S.M., Sister Mary Monica, R.S.M. Sister Mary Kateri was appointed the second Superior and principal in 1955. Sister Mary Brigid, R.S.M., is the present principal of the school which now has 840 students and ten sisters.

The parish grew rapidly and in 1957 there were 652 children enrolled for school. Construction began on the new Church in May of 1957 and Monsignor Moylan offered the first Mass in the church on the Feast of the Nativity of Our Blessed Mother, September 8th, 1957.

The new church was designed by a parishioner, Mr. Warren F. Penney, A.I.A., and it was built by DeGive, Dunham and O’Neill, Inc.

The opening of school in 1957 found the old chapel being converted into four new classrooms and cafeteria. Since then the school has been enlarged keeping pace with the parish expansion.

In the summer of 1964 Assumption parish lost a portion of its boundaries to the new parish of Holy Cross, Chamblee, Georgia. But the influx of new families into the area has kept it up to almost its former level.