St. Hugh of Grenoble parish was founded on June 13, 1947 under the guidance of an administrator, Rev. Victor Dowgiallo. Greenbelt was a new relatively new city, having been developed in the late 1930s as part of a Federal government New Deal experiment in developing planned communities. Greenbelt was to be an "ideal" self-sufficient cooperative community which would ease a housing shortage, create jobs, and stimulate the economic recovery following the Great Depression. The first parish meeting was held in August 1947 and Father Dowgiallo was appointed pastor in spring of 1948. Ground-breaking ceremonies for the new St. Hugh of Grenoble school were held in May 1949 and classes began in October 1949. The rectory was completed in 1959 and Mass was held in the school auditorium. In 1964, the new St. Hugh of Grenoble church building was dedicated. The parish celebrated its 50th anniversary with a Jubilee Mass in June of 1997. In June 2010, after 61 years, St. Hugh of Grenoble School merged with St. Joseph's Parish of Beltsville and St. Nichols Parish of Laurel to form St. Joseph's Regional Catholic School.