Polish Roman Catholic Parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, MO

The Archdiocese of St. Louis, MO was established in 1847 after having been a diocese since 1826. The Archdiocese of St. Louis consists of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Perry, St. Charles, St. Francois, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Warren, Washington Counties and St. Louis City in Missouri.

In 1880, St. Stanislaus Kostka Church was the first Polish Roman Catholic church established in St. Louis, MO. Around 2005, St. Stanislaus Kostka Church broke away form the Roman Catholic rite for many of the same reasons that motivated Poles to join independent churches in the late 1800s or early 1900s. These issues typically dealt with the ownership of church property and parishoners having a voice in the running of their church. So while the church continues to operate, it is not affiliated with the Archdiocese of St. Louis any more.

St. Stanislaus Kostka Church is the mother church of St. Casimir, St. Hedwig, and Our Lady of Częstochowa churches. St. Casimir Church was founded in 1889 from territory that had been part of St. Stanislaus Kostka parish. Its original location was at 8th & Mullanphy. The original site looks like it was cleared to make way for Interstate 70. The parish moved to a new location in 1956 but is now a closed parish. It looks like a school or other public entity occupies the site now.

St. Hedwig Church was founded in 1904. St. Hedwig was closed in 2005 and its property sold to a different denomination. The building still exists.

Our Lady of Częstochowa Church was founded in 1907. Located at 4th & Victor Streets, it was closed in 1957 and the building was torn down. It looks like a warehouse facility occupies the site now.

St. Adalbert Church was founded in 1912. It was merged in 1993 with St. Philip Neri to become St. Simon of Cyrene Church. The merged church was closed in 2005. The site is now used by a Baptist church.

The map plots the locations of Polish Roman Catholic Churches in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, MO. Given addresses were usually of the rectory and not the church building itself. Since some of these churches are now closed and/or have been razed, the map shows what is believed to have been the church location. The Polish Catholic churches were identified based primarily on The Polish-American Parish published in 1963 by the Orchard Lake Schools, Henry P. Mucha, editor.