The stretch of shore from present-day Madawaska to Van Buren was among the first areas permanently settled by Acadians and French Canadians who moved to the Upper St. John River in the 1780s. This predominantly Catholic population was served first by a church in Saint-Basile, New Brunswick, and later by a Catholic mission in Van Buren. In 1871, after repeated appeals, the bishop of Portland granted a parish to serve American residents of the extensive area between Saint-Basile and Van Buren. A church was soon built.

Father Louis Huot was pastor of St. David from 1907 to 1916. During his tenure, the first St. David church was sold and demolished. John J. Cyr and Eloi Albert oversaw the construction of a new structure, which was completed in 1912 and consecrated the next year. The pictured rectory was erected in 1889; it was replaced in the 1970s.

The commercial center of the town moved westerly, and the population grew quickly in the early twentieth century. The parish split in 1929, with the church of St. Thomas Aquinas serving the area near the Fraser Company mills.

The message in French on the back of the card appears to be signed "P. Huot" ("P." as in "Père" or Father). No year is given for the photograph, but the message is dated 1916.

No publisher is given.