The Paroisse de la Nativité-de-la-Bienheureuse-Vierge-Marie was the early nucleus of Cornwall's Francophone community and has been a dominant feature of Cornwall's skyline for over a century. The beautiful structure was designed and supervised by the second pastor of the parish, Father Paul-Antoine de Saunhac, a native of Toulouse, France. The first mass was celebrated here on Christmas Day 1891.