Saint Anthony, Millvale

Parish History

St. Anthony was established in December of 1886 as a German parish.  Before the founding of the parish, local Germans attended St. Ann parish in Millvale.  Since the establishment of St. Ann's in 1874, services had been held in both German and English.  In 1876, the Germans built a German school.  Friction between the two groups at St. Ann continued and the German element of the congregation began making plans to form their own parish.  In 1886, the congregation finally split, with the English speaking members retaining St. Ann Church and the Germans forming the new parish of St. Anthony.

In 1887, work began on a frame church, which was dedicated on November 6, 1887.  This church served the parish for over twenty years, but the congregation eventually outgrew it.  Work began on a new church on June 1, 1913, and the basement and foundation were completed on December 1, 1913.  Work on the building's superstructure started on April 1, 1914, and the cornerstone was laid on April 19.  The church bells were consecrated on May 9, 1915, and the completed church was dedicated on August 1, 1915.  The old church was then converted to a parish lyceum and later destroyed by a fire in 1923.

The church survived the St. Patrick's Day flood of 1936 and a fire in the same year.  However, the parish could not survive the loss of population in Millvale in the late nineteenth century.  In 1994, the St. Anthony congregation rejoined the St. Ann congregation to form the new Holy Spirit parish.  St. Anthony Church remains open and serves the new parish.