This Incredible Gothic Church In Cleveland Was The First Hungarian Church In The Country
By Nikki Rhoades|Published January 17, 2019
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Nikki Rhoades
Author
Nikki is a lifelong Ohioan with a love for literature. She holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Akron and has enjoyed publishing her written work since 2007. She has a love of travel and does so frequently, though she believes that home is where the heart is — she continues to work in and around Cleveland as a digital content specialist to this day, working on everything from commercial scripts and social media posts to grassroots marketing initiatives.
Local churches offer an incredible glimpse into an often forgotten piece of Cleveland’s past. Churches and cathedrals tell the stories of some of our earliest residents, and they reveal where many local immigrants came from. Not only do they capture a certain sort of heavenly beauty, but these incredible edifices are also something of a living time capsule. A few Cleveland churches are unlike any other in the nation, and this one Hungarian church has a history worthy of exploration.
St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church towers over the land, with its bright limestone exterior contrasting brilliantly against the surrounding landscape.
Located at 9016 Buckeye Rd. in Cleveland, this stunning structure captures the interest of all who encounter it. Such a structure is something straight out of Italy... how did it come to be in Cleveland?
Inside and out, this lovely edifice features Gothic Revival and Baroque Revival elements inspired by Sant'Agnese in Agone in Rome.
This structure replaced an earlier building that was completed in 1893 and removed in 1917. From 1918 to 1922, this structure was constructed with attention to every fine detail.
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Early Hungarian Catholics worshiped at an east-side Slovakian parish, but as immigration increased, they found a need to establish their own parish.
Early members worked to distribute a parish newspaper in Hungarian, and readership stretched across the United States and even into Hungary.
Topped with cupolas and adorned with stunning stained glass elements, the end result was a Roman Catholic church that effortlessly captured a little piece of heaven.
The parish's first priest, Fr. Charles Boehm, became the first Hungarian Catholic priest in the United States when he arrived in 1892. When communism fell in Europe in the 1990s, immigration to the United States increased once again. This church and its surrounding community made Cleveland an attractive destination for Hungarian families.
August brings endless festivities to Cleveland. At Saint Emeric Roman Catholic Church, another Hungarian church, St. Stephen Day brings celebrations of culture in the forms of dance, music, crafts, and cooking as these two parishes work together to celebrate their shared history.
And the church even maintains a darling little museum that offers a glimpse into its history.
Cleveland comes with an incredible history, and much of that is preserved in our churches and cathedrals. Where did your family come from? Did they attend services at a local church?
