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In 1853, St. Gabriel’s in Winterport was built by Father John Bapst, S.J. on land that was secured from the Sproul Estate. The first resident pastor was Father Jeremiah McCarthy and the parish included Frankfort and Bucksport. A year later, the first Mass was celebrated in the little Sanctuary overlooking the Penobscot River.
St. Gabriel's became a separate parish in 1877, with missions in Belfast, Bucksport, Frankfort, and Searsport. Rev. Jeremiah McCarthy was the first resident pastor. Rev. John Duddy succeeded to St. Gabriel’s in the fall of 1879 and he purchased land for a rectory.
In June 1888, Rev. Patrick J. Garrity was appointed pastor of St. Gabriel’s and its missions. In 1909, the old church of St. Gabriel’s was renovated. The Holy Rosary Church in Frankfort, built in 1909, was torn down in 1968-69 and the bell from the little church now sits in the bell house beside St. Gabriel’s Church. An addition to St. Gabriel’s was built to allow for classrooms to be used for CCD students.
In 1970, the rectory in Winterport, which had housed the priests of St. Gabriel’s for many years, was sold. A house next to St. Matthew’s Church in Hampden was purchased for the priests assigned to both parishes.
In 1994, under the direction of Father Hickey, renovations were made to St. Gabriel’s.
A notable feature of St. Gabriel's is Raphael's "Madonna of the Chair," a gift from Fr. John Bapst, S.J., purchased in Rome while he was pastor of the Immaculate Conception in Boston. The five windows are in memory of Father Bapst, Rev. Jeremiah McCarthy, Father Richard Phelan, the Reilly Family, and the Hughes Family.