"Polish Cathedrals"

St. Stanislaus Kostka church is 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 by Antoni Smagorzewski-Schermann from Kcynia or Wągrowiec, who was the first Polish immigrant in the Windy City. In 1864, when the village was already inhabited by about 30 families.
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. It was planned as a two-story building. Because of the growing number of parishioners, the lower story, although originally intended for a school attended by more than 500 children enrolled at that time, became an auxiliary oratory, where the first service was held on Christmas Eve 1877. The dedication of the upper church took place on July 10, 1881. The facade towers were completed in 1882.

The St. Andrew church’s two-tower facade, transept, modest architectural decoration and arcaded friezes correspond well with the character of the churches erected by Poles. However, considering the late time of its construction, it is a highly conservative design. Its interior is worthy of attention. Originally, as we can deduct from the preserved photographs, it was rather incoherent and not very interesting. The furnishings were manufactured by the Daprato company, strongly present on the American market, and the decoration was a compromise between the community’s high hopes and scarce funds during the recession.

The Church of SS. Cyril and Methodius is picturesquely located on a hill in Lemont, a village on the south-western outskirts of Chicago. The first Polish settlers arrived here in the 1860s. The choice of the place to settle within Chicago was related to the possibility of finding a job in close proximity to home, so the main centres of the Polish community were located in the southern part of the city, near the lake in the South Chicago district, in close proximity to the steel works, then to the south-west of the city centre, along the canal and Burlington railway line and in the vicinity of meat processing plants (Lower West Side, Bridgeport, Back of the Yards) and above all in the north-western part of the city between Division, Ashland and Milwaukee streets14. Almost 50% of the Polish residents of Chicago lived in this district.

Until the end of 1993 the Church of All Saints was the only true cathedral in the group of churches referred to as “Polish Cathedrals”, as it was the seat of the bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church. However, when the buliding was sold to the Covenant Presbyterian Church in 1993 it lost its cathedral status.

Church of Our Lady of the Angels is one of the most monumental Polish churches in Chicago, very distinctive in the Bucktown district skyline.

The parish of St. Barbara, called “Little Poland” due to its patriotic activity, was the second parish organized in Bridgeport. Poles had a deep-rooted sense of a strong connection between patriotism and Catholicism. The parish was the heart of the Polish community in America. It provided not only religious service, but also focused all social activity, propagated Polish national identity and helped to adapt to the unfamiliar customs of the American society. The parish and its immediate surroundings played an invaluable role in the identification of the Polish community in the United States. When asked where they came from, Poles answered that they came from “Wojciechowo”, “Stanisławowo”, “Jackowo”, “Trojcowo”. In this case, the name meant not only the patron saint of the parish church, but also the entire district around the parish.

St. John Cantius Church was built in the style which is a fusion of Classical, Renaissance and Romanesque features. The main body is made of brick, but the facade is made of light-colored Bedford limestone. Originally it was flanked by two huge towers, one of which was dismantled probably in the 1990s. It is the Polish temple closest to the center of Chicago (1.2 miles to the northwest). The construction according to the design of Adolphus Druiding was completed in 1898. The size of the building
was impressive: 230 feet long, 107 feet wide, the lower tower was 100 feet high, the higher one – 129 feet.

The parish of St. John of God was the second Polish community established in the Chicago meat industry district, the Back of the Yards, in the part known as the New City. However, with the collapse of the meat industry, the district started to depopulate and the parish started to decline. In 2010 the church was dismantled, and its facade was transported to Old Mill Creek, 50 miles north of Chicago, where a new parish community is building St. Raphael the Archangel Church using elements from two closed Chicago churches: St. John of God and St. Peter Canisius The facade of St. John of God’s Church was reconstructed there in its original shape.

In recent years comprehensive research into Polish churches and parishes in the United States has become both crucially important and extremely urgent. It is more and more often the case that the heritage associated with the religious life of Poles in the United States is irretrievably lost. This process is determined by various factors, such as internal migrations or a significantly lower influx of Poles settling in the United States. Parishes are being closed down or merged with other communities. Out of about a thousand Polish parishes only less than a half still function and this process continues. Many churches have been closed, sold or demolished.