North Tonawanda is known as the Lumber City in our area, once having a large number of saw mills and wood products plants. This industry and others drew Poles to begin settling here at the turn of the century. In 1902, upon the request of the Bishop, Rev. Piotr Szulc was sent to investigate and count the number of Polish families now in this sector of the diocese. The report presented to the Bishop proved a need for a Polish parish in North Tonawanda, with the Bishop sending Rev. Piotr Letocha to serve as organizer and first pastor. An old Baptist church located at Oliver and Center Streets was purchased and renovated for their house of worship, followed by the purchase of a brick structure a short distance away to serve as a parish school in 1907. The Felician Sisters took charge of the educational program in 1908 and continued until 1970 when the grammar schools in the area were consolidated. Under the pastorship of Rev. Ben Bendkowski, the parish embarked on a building campaign to erect a new church. It was dedicated on Dec 9, 1928 by Rev William Turner, Bishop Ordinary of Buffalo. The Rev. Michal Walek, served twenty years at the North Tonawanda parish during which time many societies and organizations existed in the parish and surrounding neighborhood. The numbers over the years have dwindled, the old community not the same as it was, but the diehard parishioners of the church remain steadfast. Polish is still in use, though to a much lesser degree, financially still stable, the parish looks forward to celebrating its 100th anniversary in the new millinium.