The first Catholic parish in Fort Worth was formed in 1876 when Bishop Claude Dubuis of Galveston assigned Father Thomas Loughrey to Fort Worth. Within three months of his arrival a modest frame church was built in the 1200 block of Throckmorton Street. Named in honor of St. Stanislaus Kostka, the Polish Jesuit saint, the first High Mass was celebrated October 29, 1876. Fr. Loughrey also used the building as a school, drawing a curtain across the sanctuary during class hours.

At the request of Bishop Gallagher, the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur arrived in Fort Worth in 1885 and opened a parochial school, St. Ignatius Academy. They purchased two houses on Throckmorton Street just south of St. Stanislaus church and opened that fall with 29 students. As the enrollment rapidly grew, the Sisters hired James J. Kane to design a building in French Second Empire style. The four-story building was ready for occupancy by 1889, with both boarding and day students. The Sisters eventually moved to a larger school on Hemphill Street, and in 1956 the bishop of Dallas purchased the St. Ignatius building from them. It existed as a parochial school until 1962, but was eventually converted to classroom and offices for the St. Patrick School of Religion. Although the School of Religion has moved to a newer building further south on Throckmorton Street, the St. Ignatius building is still part of the cathedral complex and is the only building of its design in existence today in Fort Worth.