Description
St. Ita parish was founded on June 25, 1900 by 53 Irish Catholic families in Edgewater. Reverend John H. Crowe was appointed by Archbishop Patrick A. Freehan to be the first pastor of this parish. The first mass was celebrated on July 1 of that year and took place in Guild Hall, the Edgewater station of Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad. This station was also used by Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian congregations. Christmas Day Mass 1900 was celebrated in the new frame church on the north side of Catalpa Ave. In 1904, St. Gregory opened less than a mile away. However, Irish Catholics still preferred St. Ita over the German church. The Northwestern Elevated Road opened in 1907, offering inexpensive transportation for people who worked in the commercial Loop district. This transformed Edgewater from a suburban community to a city neighborhood. Following World War I, Edgewater was considered a fine residential area and Catholic families began to settle here and generally between Diversey and Howard. By 1923, Fr. Crowe’s plans for a new church was approved by Cardinal Mundelein. Mundelein hired architect Henry Schlacks to construct the new French Gothic cathedral. The cornerstone, a black stone from the ruins of St. Ita’s convent at Killeedy, Limerick, Ireland, was laid on September 14, 1924. One of the principal features of this church was the covered porch which allowed one to pass from the upper church to the lower church under cover while still maintaining independent entrances. The stained glass windows are replicas of windows at Chartres. The subject of these windows was selected by Fr. Crowe. They were executed by a famous French craftsmen firm, Maumejean Freres.
