Fr. Francis Joseph Van Erp was assigned in 1859 as first residence pastor of Sacred Heart Church.  His first duties in Hudson were to disband the Missionary Church located at Catholic Hill and, on October 23, 1859, organize a new Church: “The Church of the Sacred Heart Society,” located on Spring Street on the East side of the Village of Hudson.

Services were first held in an old barn that had been converted into a temporary church. In 1861, under the guidance of Fr. Van Erp, a new rectory was constructed, an addition was made to the temporary church, and land was purchased at the south end of Spring Street for a cemetery. In 1866, church members voted to build a brand new church, thus leading to the construction of a 44×90 foot stone and brick church on the same site; the new church was constructed incrementally and was not completed until the fall of 1868.