Holy Cross Hungarian Catholic Church

01 / The story of this place

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Holy Cross parish was founded on May 8, 1905, as Hungarian workers poured into Delray to work in its iron foundries and chemical plants. A frame church followed in 1906 and a parish school in 1907. By the early 1920s the congregation had outgrown both, and Lajos Kovács, pastor from 1921, led a drive that raised about $250,000 in two years. Henrik Kohner, a Hungarian architect of German descent, designed the neo-Gothic brick church with twin copper-clad spires. Its cornerstone was laid on November 26, 1924, and Bishop Michael Gallagher dedicated it on September 20, 1925, before more than 1,500 people, Mayor John W. Smith among them. Kovács died in Detroit less than two years later. The stained-glass windows honor Hungarian saints, and refugees of the 1956 revolution filled the pews again. Interstate 75 and heavy industry later emptied much of Delray, and the school closed in the 1970s, but Hungarian Franciscan friars have led the parish since 1994. It describes itself as the only Hungarian Catholic church in Michigan and marked the centennial of its church in September 2025.

1. Parish founded May 8, 1905; present church dedicated September 20, 1925
2. Pastor Lajos Kovács raised about $250,000 in two years to build it
3. Neo-Gothic design by Henrik Kohner, with twin copper-clad spires
4. Stained-glass windows honor Hungarian saints
5. Served by Hungarian Franciscan friars since 1994