Saint Agatha Church
The parish was founded because many of the early settlers in the new town of Ellwood City were immigrants for whom religion was an important part of their lives. They had come from Ireland, Poland, France, Germany, Italy, and Hungary seeking a new life free from religious oppression.
Fr. Walsh, led the Catholic families in organizing the parish. The Pittsburgh Company donated land for a church, located on Spring Avenue. The building was completed at a cost of $1,000 (for materials) and parishioners completed most of the work.
In September 1895, the Diocese of Pittsburgh formally established the Parish of St. Agatha. The congregation increased from ten families in 1895 to more than 600 families in 1914. Soon a new church was needed. Construction on the $76,000 church began in 1915. Several parishioners, as workers in the stone quarries cut stone for the new church.
The rectory was originally constructed in 1909 on land adjoining the first church building facing Spring Avenue. The Rectory was moved to its present location on Fifth Street in 1915 to make room for the new church building.
The dedication of the new church was Sunday, July 28, 1918. Many of the parishioners were from Italy and communicated in their native language. For this reason, Fr. Wilkey, ever mindful of the needs of his flock, requested the Bishop to send an Italian-speaking priest to minister to these parishioners. In 1916, approximately 300 families from Saint Agatha's formed the mission parish of
Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary lead by Fr. Salvatore Marino.In the years since the founding of St. Agatha Parish in 1895, countless women, men, and children have received the pledge of new life in baptism, the gifts and fruits of the Holy matrimony, the healing and consolation in the sacrament of reconciliation and, above all, the celebrated. This has all happened because of its dedicated priests, religious, lay leaders and faithful women and men.