Last updated: August 2, 2021
Place
St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church
Photograph courtesy of Delaware State Historic Preservation Office
Quick Facts
Location:
610 South Heald St. Wilmington, Delaware
Significance:
Architecture, Ethnic Heritage-Black, Ethnic Heritage-European/Ukrainian, Exploration/Settlement, Social History
Designation:
Listed in the National Register – Reference number 100006071
MANAGED BY:
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2021 St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, now New Calvary Baptist Church is locally signifiant as it tells the story of Ukrainian immigration to Wilmington, Delaware at the turn of the 20th century. It futher holds distinction as the first purpose-built Greek Catholic Church in Wilmington. The building also illustrated the experience of an Affrican American congregtion in Wilmington after the disruption of slum clearance, failed urban renewal development, and related demographic transitions in the Southbridge neighborhood over the course of the 20th century. St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church is an excellent example of early 20th century vernacular Ukrainian religious architecture in Wilmington, Delaware. The church was constructed in imitative materials, using ornamental concrete block and decorative pressed sheet metal. The building’s period of significance begins with its construction in 1909 and extends to 1970.
St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church served as the focus of religion, life, and culture for much of Wilmington’s Ukrainian immigrant community from 1909 until 1968 and functioned as the backdrop for religious, political, and identity-related battles waged at the local level--but with origins in national and international developments. Following World War II, many ethnic Ukrainians moved away from South Wilmington, leaving the Southbridge area for newer housing subdivisions on Wilmington’s outskirts. With swelling membership, St. Nicholas sought space for a new church out of the city core and closer to the population centers of its parishioners. The congregation purchased property at the corner of Miller Road and Lea Boulevard in 1963 and completed construction and moved into their new church in 1968. In 1969, the St. Nicholas parish sold its building on South Heald Street to the African American congregation of the New Calvary Baptist Church. Soon after the New Calvary Baptist congregation purchased the building and began to adapt it to suit the requirements of their worship practices. The new location offered New Calvary leadership the opportunity to expand its ministries for the church and surrounding community, including programs for children of the church and services for the community in Southbridge and beyond.
St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church served as the focus of religion, life, and culture for much of Wilmington’s Ukrainian immigrant community from 1909 until 1968 and functioned as the backdrop for religious, political, and identity-related battles waged at the local level--but with origins in national and international developments. Following World War II, many ethnic Ukrainians moved away from South Wilmington, leaving the Southbridge area for newer housing subdivisions on Wilmington’s outskirts. With swelling membership, St. Nicholas sought space for a new church out of the city core and closer to the population centers of its parishioners. The congregation purchased property at the corner of Miller Road and Lea Boulevard in 1963 and completed construction and moved into their new church in 1968. In 1969, the St. Nicholas parish sold its building on South Heald Street to the African American congregation of the New Calvary Baptist Church. Soon after the New Calvary Baptist congregation purchased the building and began to adapt it to suit the requirements of their worship practices. The new location offered New Calvary leadership the opportunity to expand its ministries for the church and surrounding community, including programs for children of the church and services for the community in Southbridge and beyond.