The town of San Antonio was founded in 1882 by Judge Edmund Dunne. He had been hired by the Florida Land and Improvement Company, owned by Hamilton Disston, to handle legal affairs on the development of four million acres purchased from the state of Florida. 

Judge Dunne was given control over the disposition of 100,000 acres of the Disston property for the purpose of establishing a Catholic colony in Florida, something about which he had dreamed for a long time. He was allowed to choose the location of this community, and chose an area of rolling hills and scenic beauty in what is now east Pasco County. The name given the new community was The Catholic Community of San Antonio, because Judge Dunne had a deep devotion to St. Anthony of Padua. Utilizing Catholic publications throughout the country, Judge Dunne promoted the settlement as a wonderful place to settle. Besides the purchase price of the land, the settlers had to produce a letter from their parish priest stating that they were Catholics and were practicing their faith. Though this regulation lasted only six years, the town is predominantly Catholic to this day. 

In May of 1883, work was begun on a church for the new community. Bishop John Moore, bishop of the diocese of St. Augustine, came to dedicate the unfinished building on June 13, 1883, the feast of Saint Anthony of Padua. Bishop Moore celebrated the first Mass in the new structure on January 11, 1884.

A school was started in the home of Mrs. Marie Cecile Morse, the mother of six children, in the fall of 1883. Classes were moved into the church on April 29, 1884; and in the fall of 1884, a separate 12 by 14 foot frame schoolhouse was erected next to the church with funds supplied by Bishop Moore.

Bishop Moore sent Fr. Emilius Stenzel from the Archdiocese of New York to be the first resident pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in May of 1884. Fr. John F. O'Boyle of Fernandina became the second resident pastor on December 8, 1884.  Responding to complaints from the German settlers of the community, Bishop Moore contacted Archabbot Boniface Wimmer of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on February 1, 1886. The bishop asked for a bilingual priest who could minister to both the German speaking and English speaking parishioners. The archabbot accepted the bishop's invitation and several Benedictines were sent to Florida. This group of monks became the founders of St. Leo Abbey. Fr. Gerald Pilz, O.S.B., became the third pastor of St. Anthony of Padua parish and the first in a long line of Benedictine pastors. 

A convent of Benedictine sisters from Allegheny, Pennsylvania, was invited by Fr. Pilz and Bishop Moore to come to San Antonio. The first four sisters arrived in February 1889. They established a community which grew into Holy Name Monastery. In September of 1889, the Benedictine sisters took over the responsibilities of St. Anthony School. The current St. Anthony of Padua Church was dedicated by Bishop William Kenny of St. Augustine on March 21, 1911, and is the oldest Catholic Church building in Pasco County. The church was extended in the 1950's and remodeled in 1988. 

Originally, the Saint Anthony cemetery was located where the grotto and convent are now located. In the early 1900's the graves were relocated to the current cemetery property located on Palm Avenue.  

The red brick schoolhouse was built in 1922. The grotto next to the church was constructed of native rock in 1935. The current building, which was built as a rectory, was constructed in the 1960's. 

Following the death of Rev. Dennis Murphy, O.S.B., in December 1995, Saint Leo Abbey was unable to supply a pastor for St. Anthony of Padua parish. Bishop Robert Lynch then appointed Rev. Dennis Hughes as pastor. Fr. Hughes, a priest of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, arrived on March 19, 1996, to become the first non-Benedictine pastor of St. Anthony of Padua parish in more than 100 years. In the fall of 1996, Fr. Hughes established a building committee to begin the process of constructing a parish center, for which the community had been saving for years. On August 29, 1998, the new parish center was dedicated. In December of 1998, St. Anthony of Padua parish purchased a house across the street to use as a priest residence. The old parish house was converted for use as offices, and then later for use as a convent.  

Rev. Henry Riffle became Pastor on July 1, 2000, and was here until 2008, when he helped the parish celebrate their 125th anniversary. In 2003, we acquired the Mother Teresa Room. Originally part of St. Anthony Church, the building was given to the school. However, due to our tremendous growth, we had the building returned to us. Currently, the building is used to house the St. Vincent de Paul Society. They use the building every Saturday to hand out food to the needy. The building is also used for Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, adult education, and numerous other groups. 

Fr. Edwin Palka arrived July, 2008. During his stay of seven years, the heat and air conditioning units in the church were renovated, a new organ was purchased, and the choir loft and confessionals were restored. Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth were welcomed to our school and church community. A new school building was built, and renovations began on the old building.

In 2015, Fr. Garry Welsh arrived. He currently has the task of building up our church, school, and community with his fresh and new administrative abilities. He Renovated the Old red brick school house to match the new addition on the School at the same time the Church underwent a renovation/restoration in 2016 with new flooring and the original pews from the 1883 church  were cleaned and refinished. The whole church received a fresh coat of paint , new sound system was added and the grounds were cleaned up and relandscaped.   in 2018 Fr Garry undertook a major renovation and expansion of the Old rectory allowing room for up to three priests with a guest room.   Plans for the expasion of the parish were also put in place as we look towards the future expasion of the area and a proposal for a new Family life centeer and sports complex were Approved by Bishop Parkes in November of 2019.   Building a new Facility for a New Era was addopted as the rally cry for the exspansion of the parish facilities.   kepping the Original site of the Church at the Heart of St Anthony's and holding to the traditions of the past, while looking toward the future.