Father Harmon lived in the old Vandemark Hotel, Main and West Center (where Avanti’s now stands.) There was no rectory in Medina and only a small wood structure church. It was his task not only to minister to the faithful, but to build a permanent Catholic presence on this frontier in the communities under his […]

With the arrival of the Erie Canal on the Niagara Frontier came many of the first Catholics to the region. Sparsely settled only 20 years before, this new land was now poised for unbridled economic and spiritual growth. With Catholics scattered across Niagara and Orleans counties, there were precious few opportunities for communal worship or […]