Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish was founded in 1905 as the first and only Roman Catholic Tyrolean Parish in the United States. Located in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, the congregation celebrated its 100th birthday in 2005. To commemorate their Centennial, the parish compiled a detailed history of the church and published a beautiful booklet, complete with color photographs.
Sadly due to an aging congregation and declining attendance, the church celebrated its last mass just four years later in November of 2009. Hazleton’s Standard-Speaker newspaper published a moving story about the church’s closure, telling how generations of Tyrolean families had been “baptized, received First Holy Communion, were confirmed, exchanged marriage vows and experienced a lifetime of memories connected to the church.” The building now houses a family center operated by Catholic Social Services.
Our thanks to Conrad Reich for sharing this piece of Tyrolean American history with us. Conrad is the grandson of Ottilia “Tillie” Anna Genetti (1890-1985) and Pietro “Peter” S. Zambotti (1881-1966), two Tyrolean families from Castelfondo, Italy (originally Austria).
Mt. Carmel Church Centennial History 1905-2005 (click to download PDF, this is a large file and may take a few minutes to download.)
The Genetti Family Genealogy Project 