Polish parishes and churches in Chicago. St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, outside view

The oldest Polish church in Chicago – the mother church of the Polish parishes in the Midwest – was built in an agricultural settlement started in 1850 (or possibly a year later) by Antoni Smagorzewski-Schermann from Kcynia or Wągrowiec, who was the first Polish immigrant in the Windy City.
The cornerstone for the new church was consecrated on July 1, 1877. The temple was designed by Patrick Keely, an architect who had immigrated from Ireland. The dedication of the upper church took place on July 10, 1881. The façade towers were completed in 1882 (in 1964 one of the belfries was destroyed by a fire caused by a lightning strike, and the shape of the other was distorted by a new tented roof).