1.) The first Slovak Catholic Parish, St. Joseph's  was founded in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in 1882 (with the church building being completed in 1885) (the first Slovak Evangelical parish, St. Stephen's in Streator, Illinois, in 1884.  Streator, Illinois, for some reason, became a destination for many Slovaks, it can be explained by word of mouth or "chain migration" for sure, but perhaps there were other factors.

2.) Julius Wolf and John Slovensky left their teaching posts in Spis in 1879, and on coming to America, established the newspaper "American Slovak news, in 1886, they also published the book Americky Tlumac pre Slovakoch v Amerik (American Interpretor for Slovaks in America) in 1887

3.) The press played a very important role in the life of Slovak american Catholics, and John Gonda was a reporter. Also in Hazleton the first church-oriented paper Katolicke noviny was started in 1885.

4.) The above information about Hazleton is from the article  "Slovak Catholics in America" by Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M., in the book Catholics in America (1976).