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Please consider joining the Brady Street Area Association.  Your inexpensive
membership will include a monthly newsletter which features a local history
column.  Here is just a taste of this months topic.

June 2006 - The Goatyard and the Remarkable Polish Roots of Brady Street

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The Goatyard and the Remarkable Polish Roots of Brady Street

by Frank Alioto

Three Holy Women Catholic Parish has begun a fund drive to make much needed restorations to St. Hedwigs Church Building--Brady Streets most prominent landmark.  Here is the incredible story of the humble but determined people who built the church.

On a spring morning in 1871, about 40 Polish families met atop a muddy ravine just north of Franklin and Brady Streets, and made a decision that changed the course of history for the Brady St. area.  The issue that compelled them to meet was the decision by Saint Stanislaus Catholic Parish on Grove (now S. 5th) and Mineral Sts. to build a new church building farther south on Mitchell Street.  To this point, these Brady Street families trekked in groups to worship in their native tongue at St. Stanislaus.  Their weekly sojourn passed a few English and German-speaking Catholic parishes where these newcomers were less than comfortable--and most likely looked upon with disdain.  But now their Sunday service would be out of reach for all but the most able bodied among them, for they couldn't afford horse and carriage.

Learn how this crossroads led to the development of St. Hedwig's church and
parish and how that effort pulled more and more Polish immigrants into the
neighborhood.  Despite the rapid growth, abject poverty in deporable
conditions persisted.  Get the June newsletter to learn more, and view a
picture of the original building which stood on Franklin Place.