266 E 163rd St
1923, William E. Erb & Paul R. Henkel

By the end of the 19th-century, a sizeable Catholic population concentrated
in the Melrose area of The Bronx, which prompted the establishment of St. Luke's Church in 1897 and SS. Peter and Paul in 1898. The following year, this property on 163rd St was purchased to create a third parish, for which Father Thomas W. Wallace was appointed as pastor. Since he had two sisters who were Ursuline nuns, the parish was named after the founder and patron saint of the order. The first church was a small wooden building which opened in 1900, with the rectory located on Morris Avenue between 162nd and 163rd Streets. The parish school was established in 1907 in a small parish hall on Grant Avenue. Plans for a new church and school were announced in 1920, with the school being completed first. The three-story brick structure features limestone trimming and carved ornamentation. It consisted of 22 classrooms, a gymnasium in the basement, and a large auditorium. Construction of the new church at the corner of Morris Avenue never materialized, and the school auditorium became the permanent church.