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St. Mary's Roman Catholic Parish Complex

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1887–1892 church, Patrick C. Keely. 55 Warren St. 1901–1902 parochial school, Keely and Houghton; 1985–1986 altered, Boston Housing Architecture Team. 42 Park St.
  • St. Mary's Roman Catholic Parish Complex (Keith Morgan)
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)

St. Mary's is the oldest of the three Roman Catholic parishes in Charlestown, established early in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, and its original 1828 church, on a different site, was only the second Catholic church constructed within the immediate Boston area. The church is a late example of the work of Patrick C. Keely, the best-known and most prolific designer of nineteenth-century Roman Catholic churches in the Northeast. The Gothic Revival nave and corner tower church is constructed of Rockport granite with brick trim. King-post trusses distinguish the open nave interior with figures supporting the paneled, molded, and traceried wood ceiling. Characteristic of large Roman Catholic parishes, St. Mary's, though more dispersed than most, includes a complex of buildings to accommodate the parishioners' religious, educational, and social needs. Across Winthrop Street stands the former St. Mary's Parochial School, designed by Keely's successor firm, Keely and Houghton, in 1901–1902. In the mid-1980s the school was adapted for elderly housing with several multistory additions.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Keith N. Morgan
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Data

What's Nearby

Trainingfield District
Roughan Hall
Town Hill District
Amaziah N. Swallow House
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Citation

Keith N. Morgan, "St. Mary's Roman Catholic Parish Complex", [Boston, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-CH4.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Massachusetts

Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston, Keith N. Morgan, with Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, Roger G. Reed, and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, 206-206.

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