The Parish of Holy Family was established in 1908 as the main church of Detroit's Italian community.

The first Italian immigrants coming to Detroit in any sizable numbers were Lombards from a town near Milan in 1880. Larger numbers of immigrants from southern Italy and Sicily followed later, and on April 7, 1908, Detroit Bishop John Foley officially established the parish of Holy Family.

The congregation used the chapel of Sts. Peter and Paul as their place of worship before they built their own church. The cornerstone for the new structure was laid on Dec. 5, 1909, and the church was completed on Nov. 13, 1910. It was designed by architect Edward A. Schilling.

Today, Holy Family remains the mother church of the Italian community in metro Detroit even though most of the parishioners no longer live in the city.