Initially, the parish celebrated Mass on the second floor of the Tropico Mercantile Building on San Fernando Road.

The parish's 65 members had previously travelled to Mass either at the Plaza Church in Los Angeles or the San Gabriel Mission.

Above the main entrance, there is a sandstone carving of the head of Christ crowned with thorns created by the noted Italian sculptor, Joseph Conradi.

Bishop John Joseph Cantwell presided at the dedication, and a banquet was held at the Glendale Chamber of Commerce.

As Glendale's population grew from 2,742 in 1910 to 67,736 in 1930, parishioners were forced to line up on the sidewalk for Sunday Mass due to the limited seating capacity.

In 1991, vandals broke into the church, breaking stained-glass windows to gain entry, and smashing the heads of three treasured religious statues.

Because the only apparent motive was the desecration of religious objects, Glendale police investigated the break-in as a hate crime.

[1] Father Joseph Shea, a native of Van Nuys, was named administrator of Holy Family in 1995 and pastor in 1996.

Holy Family Grade School opened in 1925 under the direction of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.