Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
The St. Bernard Catholic parish, formally organized in 1911, was the first Catholic parish in the City of Wauwatosa. Services were initially held at the site of the future church along Harwood Avenue in a house. Planned in 1916 and completed in 1918, a new church was constructed on the site. An adjacent school, under the direction of the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, was completed in 1919. A convent was completed in 1922. A new school, complete with twelve classrooms, gymnasium, and cafeteria, replaced the old one in 1955. A new contemporary style church and rectory, designed by the architecture firm Brust and Brust, was completed in 1963. In 1980, the Tosa Community Food Pantry was established, and in 1991, the Sinsinawa Dominicans sisters left the school. The rectory was relocated to a property behind the church and school at 7517 Lincoln Place in 2000, and extensive renovations, including new offices, gymnasium, and elevator, were undertaken the same year. The former rectory and convent building were demolished. In 2010, Wauwatosa Catholic, a new elementary school, was organized in conjunction with the St. Pius X congregation. |