Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the largest Roman Catholic church in Hamden. It began in 1869 as an offshoot of St. Mary's Parish in New Haven and was renamed Our Lady of Mount Carmel in 1891. Since then several parishes were formed from OLMC, including St. Rita's in Spring Glen and St. Joan of Arc in the Westwood area of town. The current building was constructed in 1959 after the parish outgrew its former building.