Any visitor to my office at Historic Fort Steuben will not be surprised to see a lot of local objects and artifacts I have collected through the years. I love to collect locally from both sides of the river, and I am always keen to add more to my collection. I have others on the lookout for me, too, and it was from my parents that I received one of my most treasured local pieces. This object may not look like much, but to me it is special and holds so much local and personal family history. It consists of two plain bricks mounted on a marble base. The bricks have now taken on the role of bookends. One is plain, and the other has a gold plaque that reads, “A remembrance from a wonderful church — Old Sacred Heart of Mary 1919-1966.” I think my mother picked these up at a rummage sale years ago and presented them to me, and I have treasured them ever since.

The building from which these two bricks came from is what was Sacred Heart of Mary Church, located in the north end of Weirton on Avenue F. I certainly don’t remember the building personally, but I have seen many pictures of the interior and exterior. And growing up, I heard many stories of the church, always with the description of Sacred Heart on Avenue F, to exclude it from the present church on Weirton Heights. My father’s family were members of the parish, and many of their stories begin with Sacred Heart.

Speaking to visitors to our area, I often refer to Sacred Heart as the Polish Church, especially when I talk of our history. The church has long been ethnically Polish, and that goes back to the very beginning of the parish. According to the West Virginia Encyclopedia, published by the West Virginia Humanities Council, Poles comprised the third-largest immigrant group in West Virginia in 1908, and when Weirton was settled in 1909, the Poles followed.

As the population of Poles increased, a church was needed to minister to area Catholics. In 1910, Bishop P.J. Donahue of the Diocese of Wheeling, sent the Rev. M. Madert, who spoke many languages, important in an immigrant town. He was able to speak to most of the parishioners, especially the Poles in their native language. In 1911, he oversaw the construction of the first Catholic church in the Weirton area, St. Peter and Paul Parish located on Avenue A, on land donated by the mill.

This building, according to the Sacred Heart of Mary 100 years memorial album, was built for $800 and could seat only 100 persons. By 1915, the parish had outgrown the building with many in the congregation of different ethnic backgrounds. Because of this, there was not much common ground among parishioners. So the bishop divided the parish in two, one called St. Paul’s under the Rev. Leo Monaco, and one called St. Michael the Archangel, under the Rev. M. Pawlowski. In 1916, Pawlowski was replaced by the Rev. Andrew Wilczek, who served the parish for the remainder of his life. And it was in that year that the name of Sacred Heart of Mary was given to the parish.

Sacred Heart still remained at the Avenue A parish during World War I. At that time, many young Polish men who had recently immigrated to the United States heard the call from their native homeland and joined the conflict under Gen. Josef Haller. This group of soldiers commanded by Haller was raised in the United States, trained in Canada and fought with the French on the Western Front during World War I, and became the first free Polish Army since the Polish legions who fought under Napoleon.

Many of our local Polish immigrants joined the fight, including my great-grandfather, Albin Kaminski. After the war in 1920, the United States government brought back those who had enlisted in the U.S., giving them the chance to become U.S. citizens based on their participation in the conflict. Albin took advantage of that opportunity in 1936. Two of my cherished possessions are his Army uniform from World War I and his flag of the Polish Falcons, which he carried to honor a free Poland after the war. Haller did actually come to Weirton in 1934 and visit the church, much to the honor of local Polish veterans.

The people of Sacred Heart also gave much to the effort by helping to raise $100,000 toward Poland’s recovery after the war. A large sum by today’s standards. By 1919, a new building was needed to house the parish, and in September the cornerstone was laid for the church on Avenue F. It was completed in 1920.

The church on Avenue F was the center of life for the Polish community for almost 50 years, celebrating baptisms, weddings, first communions and funerals. During World War II, the people of the parish held a Mass for servicemen every Wednesday. From the parish, S. Arboczwski, A. Binkowski, W. Dziatkowicz, R. Gromek, H. Gwizdala, F. Haber, H. Kazienko, F. Klakos, A. Kost, H. Krukowski, S. Obremski, F. Pawlowski, F. Rakowski, T. Sagan, J. Sitarz, S. Szmagaj, F. Szymanek, W. Trojanowski, E. Zajac and T. Zgurki gave their lives for their country. Lest we forget their sacrifice.

In 1949, the Rev. Emil Dobosz came to the parish as associate pastor, eventually becoming pastor in 1960 after the death of Wilczek. Dobosz oversaw the construction of the new church on Preston Avenue and demolition of the old on Avenue F, moving the Blessed Sacrament to the new church on Weirton Heights in 1968.

Since the erection of the new church, Sacred Heart of Mary has remained the center of the Polish community in Weirton. Parishoners have kept the tradition of the Polish picnic, and the annual Lenten fish fry alive, along with the incorporation of Polish customs in the parish. Any visitor to the parish today will be met with a beautiful sanctuary, described by my wife as a jewel box, with an impressive stained-glass window behind the main altar, with one side describing the history of Poland and the other describing the history of Poles in America.

The parish also has many elements of the original church on Avenue F incorporated into its worship space. And it is a beautiful and sacred space that transcends the history of the Polish and Catholic community in our town. Today, the parish is under the direction of its pastor, the Rev. Dennis Schuelkens and its associate pastor, the Rev. Tony Thurston, two priests who inspire their congregations every day to live out Christ’s call in our lives. We are blessed to have them.

And on this Easter Sunday, Sacred Heart of Mary will celebrate Christ’s resurrection as it has for the past 111 years.

I pray that it will continue to do so long into the future.