Saint Laurentius (1882)
Fishtown, Philadelphia
As Polish immigrants moved to the Fishtown neighborhood in the 1870s and 1880s, they desired a parish where the priests could preach and provide pastoral care in their own language. The congregation, which consisted of people of Fishtown, Camden, Wilmington, and surrounding Philadelphia areas, first gathered in 1882 in Friendship Hall, at Norris and Sepviva Streets. By 1885, parishioners had built a lower church at Berks and Memphis Streets. Originally called Holy Cross, the church soon renamed after the 14th century martyr, Saint Laurentius (Latin for Lawrence.) The parish school, staffed by the Felician Sister, opened in 1888. The upper church was dedicated in 1890. Saint Laurentius was the first church founded in Philadelphia, and in 2207 it celebrated its 125th anniversary of existence and service to the Polish of Philadelphia.
Saint Stanislaus (1891)
South Philadelphia
Many Polish immigrants who settled in Philadelphia, came through the Washington Avenue Immigration Station (which operated from 1870-1915,) and attended mass at Saint Laurentius in Fishtown, the only existing Polish parish in Philadelphia. The constant travel from Southwark (South Philadelphia) to Fishtown began to be a hassle for the numerous immigrants who had limited or no transportation. The First Presbyterian Church, at Second and Fitzwater Streets, was purchased in 1891 and converted into the church of Saint Stanislaus. New Polish immigrants gravitated toward the church and a large Polish community developed with a foundation of a parish school. Saint Stanislaus parish was suppressed in 2006, and became a worship site of Saint Philip Neri Parish.
Saint John Cantius (1892)
Bridesburg, Philadelphia
The 90 Polish families who had settled in Bridesburg by 1890 traveled by horse-drawn trolley to Saint Laurentius in Fishtown, until a new parish was established in Bridesburg in 1892. The original chapel of All Saints parish, built in 1860 at Edgemont and Buckius Streets, was the first worship site for parishioners of Saint John Cantius, until a church and school building was constructed in 1893. Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth arrived in 1911 to assume responsibility for the parish school. The present church was dedicated in 1899.
Saint Josaphat (1898)
Manayunk, Philadelphia
In 1898, the First Presbyterian Church was purchased and remodeled by the growing community of Polish Catholics in Manayunk. The immigrants were attracted to Manayunk by ready employment offered by river- and canal-based industries like the Pencoyd Iron Works. The people faced a six-mile journey to attend Saint Laurentius in Fishtown, and so asked for a Polish parish of their own. The new church at Cotton and Silverwood Streets was name for Saint Josaphat, a Polish bishop and martyr of the sixteenth century who worked tirelessly to rebuild unity in the church in Poland and Ukraine.
Saint Adalbert (1904)
Port Richmond, Philadelphia
The intersection of Allegheny Avenue and Richmond Street was the center of Polish settlement in Port Richmond; consequently the parish of Saint Adalbert was founded there in 1904. The first Masses were celebrated in a classroom of Our Lady Help of Christians School, until a church/school building was built in 1905. A large parish church was dedicated in 1909. Sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth were the founding faculty of the parish school, enlarged in 1923 and 1954. Although not the first Polish parish, Saint Adalbert acts as the mother church of Philadelphia-area Polonia.
Saint Ladislaus (1906) CLOSED
Nicetown, Philadelphia
Polish immigrants in the Nicetown-North Philadelphia part of Philadelphia who attended Saint Laurentius Church founded the parish of Saint Ladislaus. In 1906, with a working capital of only $7.50 (($162.5 in 2005), a committee of 16 parishioners assisted in the founding of Saint Ladislaus parish. The Old Oaks Mansion on Deacon Street served as a worship site until a church/school building was opened in 1909 and Bernadine Sister were invited to staff the parish school. In 1916, a larger Gothic church was dedicated at Hunting Park Avenue and Germantown Avenue. The Polish population of the neighborhood declined due to the state of the neighborhood. During the drastic change (between 1997-2001) parish membership fell by 76 percent, mainly do to the Polish population moving elsewhere. The parish was closed in 2003, and the remaining members were invited to transfer to Saint Josaphat’s in Manayunk.
Saint Hedwig (1907) CLOSED
Fairmount, Philadelphia
A large influx of Polish immigrants to the Callowhill Street area of Spring Garden, namely around Brandywine Street (which was nicknamed “Little Poland”) in the first part of the 20th century led to the foundation of the parish of Saint Hedwig at 23rd and Wood Streets. The parish church was dedicated in 1907, and first parish school, staffed by Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, was built at 22nd and Carlton Streets in 1911. Redevelopment of the area in 1950s, mainly the construction of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, forced the relocation of the parish buildings, and in 1956 a new church and school were built at 24th and Brown Streets in Fairmount. The parish was suppressed in 2000 and the parish buildings were demolished in 2006.
Saint Mary of Czestochowa (1927) CLOSED
Southwest Philadelphia
Since 1910, immigrant Polish families in Southwest Philadelphia and Grays Ferry had sought a parish of their own. Their efforts were finally successful in 1927, when Father Boleslas Zywicki celebrated Mass for the first time for the parishioners of Saint Mary of Czestochowa parish. The first mass took place in the Polish Hall on Elmwood Avenue at Millick Street. By July of that year, the congregation had moved to the McIlvaine Estate at 59th Street and Elmwood Avenues. The McIlvaine mansion provided space for a church, rectory, convent and school, which was administered by Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. After a fire in 1935, a new parish church was dedicated in 1937.
Selected content listed on the page was taken from The Archdiocese's of Philadelphia Bicentennial Publication: Our Faith-Filled Heritage.