Gulf Breeze began as a small fishing town in the 1900s without a Catholic Church. Several decades later, Monsignor Cusick , priest of Pensacola at the time, discussed establishing a parish in Gulf Breeze so that Catholic families would not have to go into town to attend Mass on Sundays during the summer months.

In April of 1949, Bishop Thomas Joseph Toolen of Mobile approved the plan. A Gulf Breeze family donated the land for the chapel with the condition that it be named for the benefactor's wife, Ann.

St. Ann began as a small chapel, 25 ft wide by 60 feet long, and was only open during the summer. After a few years, the church offered services year round, and in 1958 St. Ann Parish was established. Three years later, a new church opened on donated land at Daniel Drive.

Over the years, St. Ann continued to grow, and parishioners and priests opened a sister church on Pensacola Beach, Our Lady of the Assumption.

Written by Haley Bookout, Student, Pensacola Catholic High School, 2011.

Copyright Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee.