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The Church was founded in 1896, when the neighborhood
was grassy pasture. The earliest populations was rooted
in heavy migration of Jewish people who came out of a
culture of oppression and persecutions in Russia,
Bohemia and Poland. Southern Boulevard and Westchester
Avenue were studded with kosher butchers and other
stores that met their special needs. There were hundreds
of small synagogues; one was even located across from
the rectory in a small apartment.
Around the same time, the Irish began to move into this
part of the Bronx. The Church was built to meet their
needs. The St. John Chrysostom School was built in 1914,
less than two decades after the Church and flourished
with enrollment number that topped a thousand by the
1940's. These early Irish families valued the Church and
wanted education for their children, something that was
denied them in Ireland.
In the 1950's, Hispanic populations from Puerto Rico,
Dominican Republic and African Americans moved into aged
housing in the community.
During the 1970's and 80's, Hoe Avenue & 167th Street
was considered part of the "Fort Apache" section of the
South Bronx. Throughout the tumultuous riots,
the buildings surrounding St. John's burned and violence
was at an all time high. St. John's however, stood
strong and became a safe haven for children to come to.
It was often referred to as "Little House on the
Prairie".
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