Saint Margaret, Munhall

Parish History

St. Margaret was established as a Hungarian parish in 1924.  Before St. Margaret was founded, local Hungarians traveled to McKeesport to attend services at St. Stephen, McKeesport.  On April 8, 1923, a group of Hungarians in Munhall met to develop plans to form a parish of their own.  They began a fund raising campaign.  On December 27, 1923, the bishop assigned a priest to organize the new parish.  The first Mass of the new parish was celebrated on the first Sunday in January at St. Francis Church in Munhall.

The congregation soon purchased land for a church and began construction of a frame building in May.  The completed church was dedicated on September 28, 1924.  This church served the parish for a quarter of a century.  On March 9, 1950, fire struck the church and completely destroyed it.  Until the parish could replace the structure, they moved to St. Francis Church, again, to celebrate Mass.  Ground for a new church was broken in April of 1951 and the completed church was dedicated on February 17, 1952.

As the rise of industry in the area at the beginning of the century led to a rise in population, the loss of industry in the area at the end of the century led to a major population loss.  By the early 1990's the Munhall-Homestead area could no longer support the number of parishes then in existence.  In 1992, St. Margaret merged with five other parishes to form the new St. Maximilian Kolbe parish.  As part of this merger, St. Margaret Church was closed and sold afterwards.