The parish of the Basilica of St. Josaphat was founded in 1888. With the growing size
of the Polish community located on Milwaukee’s south side, Father Wilhelm Grutza
hired architect Erhard Brielmaier to design a new structure with a large seating
capacity. Brielmaier modeled his design after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and
presented his blueprints for it in 1896. Grutza and his parishioners worked
continually on the project for years, both on raising funds for the construction and
providing the actual labor. In an effort to save money, Grutza purchased materials
from the U.S. Post Office and Customs House in Chicago that was being torn down and
had them shipped to Milwaukee. On 21 July 1901, the new church was dedicated before
4000 worshippers. It became the largest church in Milwaukee at the time and features
one of the largest copper domes in the world. It was added to the National Register
of Historic Places in 1973.
