Our Parish History
Lemkos from Galicia first immigrated to Yonkers in the 1880s. They settled among the Rusnaks from the Presov Region and Zakarpatia – both who arrived a bit earlier and were larger in numbers.
Though most all Lemkos worked in factories, some had their own businesses:
- Andrej Smyja (Barber) on Riverdale Avenue
- Orest Hyra (Hotel)
- Mr. Bincarowsky and Mr. Ciuryk (Grocery Stores)
Religion was a very important part of their life. The first Slavic church in Yonkers – The Byzantine Catholic Church of St. Nicholas of Myra - was built on Ash Street in 1894.
- Much cooperation was needed in order to have their own church. One group of parishioners dug the foundation and built the church. Another group went around the region to collect money/donations from their fellow countrymen – at times they went all the way to Pennsylvania. The church ended-up costing $12,000 to be built.
- Not only Lemkos and Rusnaks attended this church – but also other Slavs: Ukrainians, Slovaks, Poles, and Hungarians. Services were held both in old Church Slavonic and Hungarian.
At St. Nicholas there was some conflict – such that the one group who wanted to promote the Galician identity (in contrast to the ones who earlier came from the Presov region and Zakarpatia) broke-away from St. Nicholas. This Galician group included the Ukrainians and Lemkos.
In 1899, the Ukrainian group built their own church where Riverview and Chestnut Streets meet – and it was called Little Russian Greek Catholic Church of St. Michael. In 1978, a new church was built on the corner of North Broadway and Shonnard Place, were it stands today diagonal from St. Mary’s. It is now called the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. Michael.
Also in 1899 - during the Return to Orthodoxy movement - Orthodox Lemkos left St. Nicholas and built their own church on Seymour Street. This church was first called Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church. Due to a fire, that church re-built in 1905 on a different plot of land on Seymour Steet. That church remains today, but is now called Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church.
In the 1930s, some parishioners broke-away from Holy Trinity, and started their own church on 77 High Street (see photos). Among those parishioners were Lemkos who were Rusyn in orientation. That new church was named St. Mary’s Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church. The first priest was Fr. John Kushwara, who also left Holy Trinity. Our new church was built in 1969 – under the guidance of Fr. Elias Kozar - on this fabulous property on North Broadway where it exists today as St. Mary’s Orthodox Church.
Now that you have learned of our past - Come worship with us and be a part of our present and future!
Watch Video of History of Lemko (Carpatho-Rusyn) Settlement in Yonkers.
