In 1870, a lot was purchased next to St. Patrick's Church, which was located at the corner of Victoria Avenue and Maple Street. The goal of the parish was to build the first completely separate Catholic school in the city. However, St. Patrick's school was not actually completed until 1892, during the tenure of Reverend Domenic Thomas O'Malley. The small frame school building had two classrooms and a rectory. For many years, nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph's, in the diocese of Buffalo, came daily from the U.S. across the Suspension Bridge to teach there.
By 1892, a larger building was needed, and the front yard of the old church was used. The new red brick school building had a formal opening ceremony and blessing that was a gala occasion, with His Grace, Archbishop Walsh of Toronto, and Monsignor Rooney, Chairman of the Catholic School Trustees of Toronto, in attendance. In 1895, the old school was torn down to make room for a new church, the present day St. Patrick's Church.
The second St. Patrick's School was replaced in 1966 by the current school building, which now occupies the site of the original St. Patrick's Church.
Niagara Falls Public Library. 2017. Niagara Falls - Then & Now: A Photographic Journey Through The Years. St. Patrick's School/St. Patrick Catholic Elementary School
Niagara Falls Then and Now
A collaborative project
Niagara Falls Museums - Niagara Falls Public Library - Dept. of Geography and Tourism Studies,Brock University.
Original newspaper series by
Sherman Zavitz, Official Historian for the City of Niagara Falls from 1994 - 2019.
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