Coal brought Slovak families to Streator in the 1880s, and within a few years they had built something no other Slovak community in America had: a Catholic parish of their own. This page tells the story of St. Stephen’s. For more on the immigrant era, see our History of Streator.
The First Slovak Families
The Illinois Catholic Historical Review wrote in the early 1920s that Streator was the earliest Slovak settlement in Illinois, and that the first Slovak family in the area arrived in 1883. They came for the mines (see our coal mining era page). Before long the Slovak community was large enough to want its own priest, its own language in church and its own institutions.
Founding St. Stephen’s
The University of Minnesota’s Immigration History Research Center, which holds the parish’s early records, says St. Stephen’s was founded around 1883 and calls it the first Catholic parish established by Slovak immigrants in America. Its first priest, Rev. Joseph Kassalko, arrived in 1884, and the congregation celebrated its first Mass on December 11, 1885. Streator also had an early Slovak Lutheran congregation, which held services in its own church on October 5, 1884.
America’s First Slovak School
Under Rev. Ervin Gelhoff, St. Stephen’s School opened in the fall of 1888 with Franciscan Sisters as teachers. It is recognized as the first Slovak school in the United States. Gelhoff also worked with Rev. Stephen Furdek to found the First Catholic Slovak Union in 1890, a national fraternal organization that supported Slovak immigrant families with insurance and community ties.
Building for the Long Term
As the parish grew, so did its buildings. A new church was completed in 1906, followed by a new school in 1912, a new rectory in 1926 and a convent in 1958. The parish’s early sacramental registers are now preserved in the University of Minnesota archives, where genealogists still use them to trace Slovak families.
Consolidation and a Final Mass
By the early 21st century, Streator had four Catholic parishes, St. Stephen, St. Anthony, Immaculate Conception and St. Casimir, and fewer people to fill them. In September 2010 they were merged into one parish, St. Michael the Archangel. The 1906 St. Stephen’s building needed costly repairs, estimated at about $4 million. The last Mass at St. Stephen’s was celebrated on October 1, 2023, and parish worship moved to St. Anthony Church.
Why It Matters
St. Stephen’s is more than a local landmark. It marks the start of organized Slovak Catholic life in the United States and shows how mining families rebuilt their communities on the Illinois prairie. One of those families produced artist Charles Turzak, whose father was a Slovak coal miner in Streator (see our notable natives page). Many Streator families still trace their roots to the parish’s early members.
Researching Slovak Roots
Anyone tracing a Streator Slovak ancestor has good places to start: the parish records at the University of Minnesota, the First Catholic Slovak Union’s history, and the Czech and Slovak American Genealogy Society of Illinois.
Related Streator History
- Streator History Overview
- Streator's Coal Mining Era: The Vermilion Coal Company and Its Miners
- Hardscrabble to Streator: The Early Settlement Years
- Notable Streator Natives: Inventors, Artists, Musicians and Leaders
Sources
- St. Stephen's Church (Streator, Illinois) records – University of Minnesota Archival Finding Aids (IHRC). https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/6/resources/4606
- Czech & Slovak American Genealogy Society of Illinois – Slovak immigration (quoting the Illinois Catholic Historical Review). https://www.csagsi.org/slovakimmigration
- "The Church" – Slovak Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland (Cleveland State University). https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/slovak-americans-and-their-communities-of-cleveland/chapter/the-church/
- Shaw Local: St. Stephen Church in Streator hosts final Mass (Oct. 2, 2023). https://www.shawlocal.com/illinois-valley/2023/10/02/st-stephen-church-in-streator-hosts-final-mass/
- Charles Turzak – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Turzak
