St. James Parish was named in honor of St. James, The Greater, one of the Apostles. It was established on October 12, 1929. The initial property of St. James was three-and-one-half acres and construction began a month later on a frame church building. The church was dedicated by Bishop Christopher E. Byrne on January 30, 1930. Father James M. Kirwin, a 32-year-old priest, was named its first pastor.

The present church building at St. James, a copy of All Saints Church in St. Louis, Missouri, was dedicated in the fall of 1939. Of Grecian-Roman architecture, St. James Church was the first octagon-shaped structure to be built in this area and is a departure from the long, narrow European-style churches. The octagon represents the eighth Beatitudes given by Jesus Christ in his Sermon on the Mount. The beatitudes are the themes of the stained glass windows in the church. The five circular windows depict five religious themes: The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Birth of Christ, The Assumption and The Baptism of Jesus.

The rectory was built in 1960. September 1930, the convent school was opened. It was staffed by Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, with one hundred children in its initial attendance. A high school was later opened and the enrollment in both schools in the 1940s was more than one thousand students. The present grammar school building was built in 1940. The high school combined with St. Mary High in 1948 to form Bishop Byrne High School. They continued to operate from the school buildings in their respective parish property until a new building was built in 1965. St. James and St. Joseph Elementaries combined schools in 1985. Today the school is named Sister Thea Bowman Academy and is located on St. James Catholic Church property.

Monsignor Kirwin retired as pastor on April 1, 1970. He served the parish for forty-one years, the priesthood for fifty. He died on October 3, 1971, interred in Groves, TX, Greenlawn Cemetery.  

On July 7, 1977, a parish hall was established and named in his honor - "Kirwin Hall."