St. Barbara in Chicago

Architect: Worthmann & Steinbach
Style: Polish Cathedral style
City: Chicago, IL

St. Barbara's was founded in 1909 to relieve overcrowding at St. Mary of Perpetual Help, whose pastor, Stanislaus Nawrocki, installed his own brother Anthony as St. Barbara's first pastor - a founding that was a family affair in both senses. Designed by Worthmann and Steinbach in the Polish Cathedral style, its opulent scale makes it one of two monumental church buildings, alongside St. Mary of Perpetual Help, that dominate the Bridgeport skyline.

the style

Worthmann and Steinbach built St. Barbara's in the Polish Cathedral style, the same opulent, grand-scaled idiom the firm used across a string of monumental Polish parish churches in Chicago.

the architect

Worthmann and Steinbach were responsible for many of Chicago's magnificent Polish Cathedral-style churches, of which St. Barbara's is one example.

significance

In 2019, under the Archdiocese's "Renew My Church" reorganization, St. Barbara was merged with St. Therese Chinese Catholic School - unusually, St. Therese ended up taking possession of St. Barbara's school campus, rectory, and administration rather than the reverse.

nearby

Spiegel Office Building 0.8 mi · Streamline Moderne · 1937
Ramova Theater 0.9 mi · 1929
On Leong Merchants Association 1.3 mi · 1926
Produce Terminal Cold Storage Company Building 1.3 mi · Art Deco · 1928
Crown Hall 1.5 mi · International Style · 1950
McCormick Tribune Campus Center 1.5 mi

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