St. Michael's began as a mission church in 1842. Father Abram Ryan, now known as the poet-priest of the Confederacy, served here in 1864-1865. In his poem, "The Conquered Banner" (1865), Ryan wrote of the Confederate surrender: "Furl that Banner, softly, softly!/Treat it gently it is holy-/For it droops above the dead/Touch it non-unfold it never/Let it droop there, furled forever/For its people's hopes are dead!"
