"St. Anthony's Parish history is the story of an oppressed, immigrant people building a new life of freedom; of a church preserving and embellishing a Christian heritage; of a school training an industrious, thrifty, and self-sacrificing citizenry. It is, in miniature, the story of the building of America".

       St. Anthony (of Padua) Parish in Toledo, Ohio is alive and well, as it continues to dominate the corners of Nebraska and Junction Aves, as it has through the brick edifice erected there in 1891, a mere two years after its humble founding in a wood frame church, much too small to accommodate the countless souls who would find spiritual nourishment, education, and alas a better life, that would take them far from the Lynx Hill area which to this day retains its German nick name, "Kooshwantz", or as the Poles called it "Krowi Ogon", ( "cow's tail") because of its location in what was then the boundaries of the city.
    Initial settlement was reportedly from a wholesale uprooting of a village in the old country, (Poland), that comprised a second wave of immigration to Toledo, the first being those who settled near the other German speaking community of the city along LaGrange St.
    It was that community that became known as "Jadwigowo" (and this one as "Antoniego") that brought the founding Pastor, Franciscan Father Vincent Lewandowski (pictured at right) to Toledo to serve the spiritual needs of the Polish speaking populace (tu i tam).
    Though his residence was in "the other neighborhood", Fr. Lewandowski traveled south for the benefit of settlers there as well. At other times they traversed by torch light to the mother church of St. Hedwig for the Lenten Lamentations (Gorzkie Zale) until they firmly established themselves.
    Very conscious of his own Franciscan spirituality and its heroes, Fr. Lewandowski chose the Franciscan Saint, Anthony of Padua, as the patron of this parish, a sister to St. Hedwig Parish where he named the church bells St. Francis of Assisi and St. Anthony of Padua. The lone bell in the belfry of the Nebraska Ave. church is named for its patron.
    Boasting the largest steeple in the City of Toledo, this spire served and continues to do so, as a beacon and an inspiration directing those physically or spiritually lost.
    Its history lies in the lives of its people and priests. Prime among them was the V. Rev. Msgr. Francis Legowski, who ruled for almost more than half of this parish's history- a history which is told in the murals he commissioned that decorate the walls of the rectory dining room.
   A deep sense of pride in the culture and history of the Homeland was inculcated in generation after generation of children by the Felician Sisters who operated the school from its inception to the sad closing in 1970. More than 80 vocations to religious life bloomed on the fertile soil hoed by the Felician Sisters who taught "Kto Sie Opieke" and other hymns, sung by angelic voices on many an occasion as they entered this 'Palace of the King of Kings' which is retained today as it was when built.
    Fidelity to the Cross, the Gospel and the Church were promised by multitudes who were baptized here, married here and buried from here where "they put on Christ".
    The miracles referred to in "The Responsory of St. Anthony" that clients are encouraged to seek from St. Anthony are truly those of the past and the present who comprise St. Anthony Parish of Toledo, Ohio.

N.B. The definitive history of this community was complied for the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of its establishment through the efforts of the late Msgr. F. Legowski which served as a reference for this site.