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Farm 10-300. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORJuly 1969 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

-

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM

Type all entries - completeapplicable sections

STAT E;

Rhode IslandCOUNTY:

ProvidenceFOR NPS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMBER DATE

...y HUv:.

COMMON:

* St. Joseph’s’Roman Catholic Church- . .*

AND/OR HISTORIC: . -

LOcATJONSTREET AND NUMBER;

86 Hope Street -

CITY OR TOWNI -

Providence - . - - - - . . . - . -

STATE .. CODE COUNTY: . CODE’

Rhode Island, 02906 *-‘ bt Providence . - . 00713- CLASSIFICATION

CATEGORYCheck One

. OWNERSHIP. .

*STATUS ACCESSIBLETO THE PUBLIC

I El District Building

El Site El Structure

El Oblect

.

Public . IPublic Acquisition:

Private j El In Process

El Both Being Considered

Occupied -

El Unoccupied

El Preservation workin progress

Yes:Restricted

El Unrestricted

El No

PRESENT USE check One or More as Appropriate

El Agricultural El Government El Park *.- El Transportation C CommentsI

El Commercial El Industrial o Private Residence El Other Specify * I

El Educational - El Military Religious -‘- .

El Entertainment El Museum El Scientific , . -

WNER OF PROPERTYOWNERS NAME: . .

-

‘-4

Z!

- Roman Catholic Diocese.

of Providence . , .

STREET AND NUMBER: - . . . . . . *

! Catbedral Square . - , :- C

‘, CITY OR TOWN: , STATE: CODE,

-- ProvidenceOcATIONOFLEGALScPIPTI

Rhode Island, 02903 bIt

COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC:

ProvidenceCity. Hall

CITY OR TOWN:

- Providence

STREET AND NUMBER: I

Dorrance Street at WashingtonStreet .-

STATE . CODE

Rhode-Island, 02903 4.

4REPPESENr

TTITLE OF SURVEY:

Not so represented . * . -

DATE OF SURVEY: -- El Federal El State El County El Local

DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS C

STREET AND NUMBER;- . - . -*. -

CITY OR TOWN; STATE: - CODE

‘Iiz-I

-C

2C

BPt

DESCR1PT-IONIH,-’TTEThCheck One -

CONDITION 0 Excellent Good El Fair El Deteriorated El El Unexposed- - - check One - - *

- -- Check One -

C Altered IjJ Unaltered 0 Moved Original SiteI,, DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL it known PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Dating from the mid-Xfl Century: St. Joseph’s parish- church is in,the Victorian Gothic style almost universally considered essential at

- that time for a religious edifice. -- Begun in 1851 from the designs.-ofPatrick C. Keeley, it was completed in 1853 and has since then pre- - -

C sented uswith a sizeable and pleasing, if somewhatexternally austere,adaptation of English ‘Pointed Gothic" design. - -- -

The building is basically a long, high, gable-roofed rectangle - -, - -

--- with a tall, square tower without spire protruded from centre front -

- and with an altar sanctuary flanked by low vestries pushed out at the- -. rear; there are no transepts. Exterior facing is of tawny native - -

- ‘- stone laid in random Shiar, roughly-dressed, and trim is of :smoothly- -

dresseddark brown -sandstone. At all exterior angles and along the-

- side elevations are steppedbuttresses on peidestals, their sloped - -

steps covered and trimmed by sandstone. The long roof is covered by -

-- slate. - The interior behind a vestibule or narthex, is laid out in -

- m

- - - simple basilican form, and this dictates the three entrances across - - mthe entrance east front; the central portal pierces the base of the --

tower and is recessedbeneath a series of rounded mouldings in its -

pointed archway; those in the flanking bays of this façade are smaller Z

but similar. Pointed and traceried windows are used above the portals-- and between them, there being an especially large one halfway up the

-- front of the tower; above this big window is a small quatrp4’oil one and

-

then paired, pointed, louvred openings at the belfry stage. The towerts - -

- - - top is-finished with tall pinnacles having cone-like terminations at - -

--- its corners; between these runs crenellation interrupted by smaller -

-

pinnacles. The sides of this church are plain, simply showing the pro- -I

- gression of six bays between buttresses, the five western of these bays -- -:

- -- being occupied by tall, trceried, stained-glass windows. A large win-i o - -

dow of stained glass is a major interior adornment of the chancel or - C

Z;C- : - sanctuary and is the chief external adornmentof the churchts generally-

unseenrear. - - - -. - - - - - - . - -

-: - - The interior remains very much as Keeley originally planned t, - - -- -: -

- though it now displays more surface embeflishment than it had in the

-- :C4C - 1850’s. As the parish was at first by no means a rich one, simply -. - --I - -

erecting a church buil4inr of this size must have beena formidable‘- undertaking, without allowing for -applied interior elegancies; at the

‘-C beginning the church-ust have ben -as severe inside as it remains out- -

:-‘ -side. Entrance tothé church is through a one-storeyvestibule, above

-- - - which is the :organ_and choir-loft, across the !ast end, and here are

j -tndlosed corner stairs to the balconies- of the church proper and three - -

- doors opening to its aisles. This auditorium, which is sizeable, hi -

- - - - C -

- nd open, is of hasilicanPlan, six hays in length, and it is covered- - - - - by a gable roof withoutclerestOrey or other upper openingswhich is

- :- -partially suPorted-b’. rows- of piers, on either side of the central - -

- seating space.,which are- encased-in plaster and painted stone-colour

-to gie the effet of-clustered columns. - The east-west spacesbetween

- - - - - - - - --- - --- -: - See Contjation Sheet1.

Form 1O-300o UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TUE INTERIOR - STATEJuly 1969 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Rhode Is land -*

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTY - - -- -

INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM- Providence -

- FORNPSUSEONLY

- ContinuationSheetl- ENTRY NUMBER DATE

Number alt entries - - -

- : - - - C - - -

- 7. Description. - -- - - - - - - - --- --

- these piers or columns are handled as pointed arches, finished with a - - -

- - - number of rounded plasteimouldings and not reaching fully up to the roof - - : -

but with plastered spacesabovethem. Bracketted-out on consoles above --

- each column-capital are transverse timber trusses which appear to aid in - -

- - -- support of the roof and which intentionally give a vaulted or pointed-arch - -

- C -

appearanceto the- long, máin..nave area. Similar trussing is employed --

alOng the lower, side areas. - Down the north and south sidesof the audi-CCC

- -torium run galleries having -flat frontals with applied wooden, Gothic,cusped arcading. Wóodwork,.-including pews with panefled ends curved- and

-

-- caned at the top and with, curving arm-rests, is of darkened oak. Plaster- -

- wails are of - huff colour and:-probhly ahrays have been: they are adorned -- -:

- with stencilled--borders in red, gold and green, and a similar stencil - --

- ---treatment is used on: the ceiling of the auditorium, between trusses, - -

-- jiving it- a panelled effect. At the west end the rectangular chancel -

--:

- -area, much of which shows later embellishment, actually does havea -.: - -

- pointed-arch ceiling vault, this Of plaster with -applied wooden ribbing -

- Features giving interest to the church interior and some now, like - -

the-stencilling in the church proper and the mural paintings of angels --C

/- -- high in the chancel, in need -of restoration are the various ornamentations-

- and accessories given the: building by parishioners over, a one-hundred-year - C -:

period. Around 1890 it was decided to install two side-altars flanking - t-;! -

- the sanctuary, -and the provision of space for these causedremoval ofC

-

sections of gallery in the sixth or westernmostbays of the church. At -

about the same time, a chcmo of bells for the tower was received-as a -

C

- gift. Later, in 1900, the large window behind -the altar was provided withstained glass from the Mazer studio in Munich--again the gift of a parish- -

-- ioner, and this attracted- further gifts from the parish, eventually fill-ing all the side windows with fine stained glass, too. Another gift, in

- C

- 1905, was a redesignedsanotuary and a new altar and reredos ±n white - -‘ -:r

marble with coloured inserts, designed by the eminent firm of Heins& - :C-:

Lafarge. In the 1910-1920period the incumbent rector, Monsignor Blessing,I - undertook with taste further improvements: marble wainscoting of simple -

recessed panelswas installed; new exterior doors were hung; the vestibule - - "C

and organ-loft areas were given fumed-oak panelling; pews were refinished; 5 -

the organ-loft was opened up sd that a new stained-glass memorial window - : -

in the eastern tower could he seen from within. Also in this era there -

-was added an altar rail of marble and travertine stone, of pierced, foliate - -

caning, beautifully executed; subsequentlythe altar area was floored In C C -

travertine and wainscoted in marble and travertine. Bronze hanging lan- - C -

terns, a marble pulpit and mosaics on the reredos are installations by a CCC -

- rector of the 191i0’s-1950’s. - - - - -

- In 1973, after more than l20years of use, the building stands in -

need of repair and refurbishment internally, while exterior repairs have -- -

- already been put in work. Above the- marble wainscot the interior is grimy -- - -

and peeling, and the present-rector has to decide whether to preserve

- See Continuation Sheet 2. -

- - - GPO 921.724

A

Form lO-300o UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TUE INTERIOR STATE

July 1969 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Rhode Island

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTY

ProvidenceINVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM C

_________________________

--

- - FORNPSUSEONLYC

- - ENTRY NUMBER DATE - C --‘ Continuation Sheet-2 -

________________________________

Number *iI entriee - -

iTo.-. De?ôription. C - - --

for example, stencilling etc., the angel figures on the chancelwalls-

- or to paint over: preservation is of course preferable. Certain smU - - -

and understandablealterations are at present taking place due to the - : C -

revised Roman Catholic liturgy: The altar rail has been split and moved - -

closer to the sides of the auditorium so that the olatform of the sanc- - -

tuary can he advancedmore into the body of the church. In turn, theC

marble altar will be detached from its rear-wall reredos and well ad- -

vanced, to provide for the modern sacraments "in theround." - These - - --

- changeswill not affect the inherent-architectural quality of the church - -C-: -

- interior. - - - - - - - C - -

8. Significance. - - - - - - - - - - - - -

-dedlared St. Joseph’s Parish, and thoughts were given towards providingit-with a permanentand substantial home church. Bishop O’Reilly, of -

- -[C

- the Hartford Diocese which: then included Providence, agreed, and Keeley - -

- -- was engaged-as architect.: He producedwhat is now the oldest standing

- ‘

Roman Catholic’ churbh structure in Rhode Island--its predecessorshaving C,

-- been hired halls, temporary-,structures or hand-me-downbuildings minimally C

- altered :for their new purpose. While the parish was ambitious, it was -:also materiallypoor, and i-riuch Of the preliminary work of clearing the

- 7church-Site, -breaking and hauling stone etc. was done by its own men after - -

their ordinai’y day’s work. Its cornerstone blessed in August, 1851, the -

- -church was completed and’ open for services in December of l853 and it C

- was formally dedicated in July, 1855. - : - - -l - - -- CCC,

-- As years-ássed, the èection in which the church is located became-

an- even stronger and much more prOsperousIrish Catholic enclave. More-- -- :

‘‘rparish projects a school;: a convent, a sympathetically-designedrectory -

.:andsacristy in the l8BOIs’were undertaken, and the interior of the church -

-- itself, as mentioned, received more attention. These efforts we see to-day,- and rectors and parishioners have had reason tobe proud of past achieve- - -

-- ‘.ments and to cherish their church building. - - -

CC- After nearly one hundred and twenty-five years, however, the building

needs exterior repair--which it is undergoing--andalso stands in need ofsome interior refurbishment, which one hopes will amount mainly to.clean-

- ing, patching, repainting--and restoration rather than change of decor. Anecessary-exceptionto strict restoration, nevertheless, will be the alteration of the front part of the sanctuary and- forward placementof the altarto accord with new ways ot celebrating the mass; this work seemsalready tohave been plannedrith particular tactfulness, and it is hoped that.anyfuture inside wok-k will show an equal respect for the church’s handsome

interior.

- C

GPO 921.724

I

PERIOD Check One oMor. cc Appropriate - C

- C* fi Pr.-Calumbian-: - - -

fi 15th Century - ‘- - -

SPECIFIC DATEISI If Applicable and Known 1851 - - - . - -C ‘C - - -

AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE Ch.c& One or Mare a. ApproprlatO

- Aboriginal CCC -D Education- - - C

Political - H 2- 0 Urban Planning - --

‘ 0 PrehistorIc- fl Engin.ering -- 1 X Religion/Phi.

- CC fi Oth.r Specify

0 Historic- 0 Industry losophy - - C-

o Agriculture 0 Invention fl Science

________________________

I Architecture fi Londscop. - 0 Sculpture - C

o Art Archit.csure 0 Social/Human- -

0 Commerce fl Literature- itorian - - -- -

o Communication. 0 Military fi Theater - - C

0 Conservation- D - - 0 Transportation

________________________

STATEMENT OF SiGNIFICANCE - - - -

St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church is, a good example--andan earlyone in Rhode Island, along with the Episcopalian Grace and St. Stephen’sChurches--of theprevalent mid-XIX-Century practise of studiously adapting designs for ecclesiastical-structures in this country from early"Pointed" English Gothic examples. So, the building shows its careful

- derivation outside and inside from the straightforward patterns if thelarger parish churches in England’s provincial sections. Its architect,Patrick C. Keeley 1816-1896, had grown up in the United Kingdom, was- -

scarcely an untrained pereon, and- he knewwhat he was about when em-barking upon-this Providence commission. -- - -

Born in Kilkenny, Ireland, Keeley was the son of an architect; he.worked with his father and probably had some opportunities to travel

- - and observe old buildings. At the age of twenty-five he caine to this -

country, settling eventually in Brooklyn, New York, and thereaftercarrying on a quite successful-independentpractise of architecture,’--almost entirely devoted to church work, in the northern East Coast and -

1in nearby Canada. St. Joseph’s Church dates fairly early in his longcareer, which later included the Roman Catholic cathedrals in Boston, --I

-Massachusetts,Portland, Maine, and in 1893 Providence. C - - -

-: The financially-dictated austerity of his initial; simple yet-: handsome,design has over many years been lessenedby the ornaments -

-

given by members of the parish or addedby successive rectors, among -

whom 11onsignor Peter E. Blessing--incumbent from 1916 to 1936--canbe -

given special credit for taste and discretion. All of these additions -

- to the fabric are part of the. history of the building and its parish- ds well as the single most distinguished extant monument in Providence

embodying Catholic tastes in architecture and the liturgical arts-, from the middle -of-the XIX Century to the middle of the succeedingone.- 1

- - The first Roman Catholic mass in Providencewas ceMrated in 1789 -:- by the French Abbé de la Poterie, and after that.- the local congregations

for years met in private houses or small hired hails. By the 1830’s,however, Catholics becamemore numeroushere, many being Irish construction workers on the Providence-WorcesterRailroad who stayed onat this endof their work and settled in Fox Point, as the area whereSt. Joseph’s Church stands is called. By 1851 this section had been

o 16th Century -

o - 17th Centuryo 18th Century ; - 0 20th Century

-LX 19th Century - - - - C - - -

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See Continuation Sheet 2.

UP- GEOGRAPHICAL DATA

_____________ _________________

-- LATITUDE AND LONOITUDE COORDINATESI LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINA TES

- OEFININGA RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY

_______ ________________________________________

OF LESS THAN TEN ACRES

CORNER - --LATITUDE - : - I - LONGITUDE - -

0R

- - - LATITUDE LONGITUDE -

APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY, Leih than oneCacre - - --C- - -

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING.STATEOR COUNTY BOUNDARIES - -- - - -

STATE: - - - - C - - - - CODE- COUNTY - - - - - CC - - CODE

STATE: C - - --

-- - -

.

CODE COUNTY, - - - - -

: -- -CC .

CODE

STATE: - - -- - CODE -COUNTY: - - C C --4 - - - - CODE

STATE: --‘ - - - - - - CODE COUNTY:- - - - CODE

-

NAME AND TI TLE: - - C - -- - - - ‘:- - C - -- -

Richard B. Harrington,:-Consultant - - -- - - -- --- :‘ :!‘- --

S

CITY OR TOWN: -- STATE CODE

f2

- Providence C -- - -

5TA !- iI_!O :O FE-ICE P _ftTE!.F CAi !i::WØ-Rhode Island 02 06 -

As the designated state Liaison Officer.for the Na

tional Historic Preservation Act of 1965 Public Law

59-665. 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion

- in the National Register and certif that it has -been

evaluated according to the Criteria and procethires set-

forth by the Ntional Park Service. The recommended-

- ,lVl of significance of this nomination Is: -

:National 0 - State; Locat D -

Nam -Y - -, - - C C

Title -- CC C

- C

Date -- C-

- - - - - - - - C -

Commission. - -

DATE -

C April It.-1973

- [9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL RUERENCES

- Cady,John Hutchins: -The Civic and Architectural Development of-Provi-- - dence, 1636-1950 Providence, RhodeIsland,1957, pe 129, 152.

,l8sl:I5l. Souvenir Booklet .-.. One Hundredth Anniversary-Of ... St.- JosetTh’s Parish ... - Providence,RhodeCisland, 1951. - -

-- -Withey, Henry F. , and Withey, -Elsie Rathhurn: -Biographical Dictionary- of-American Architects Deceased -LoS-Angeles, California, 1970,--

- -- -- - ----- -- -

I NE

-SE

SW

Degrees Minutes Seconds

-- 0

0 -

0

Degrees- 0

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Minutes Seconds Dejçes Minutes - Seconds

- -o 4916.81.NDegrees

71-Minutes Secânds

23 50. 06-W

- FORM PREPARED BY -

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ORGANIZATION

-

Rhode Island Historical Preservation -

TREET AND NUMBER: - - -

John Broi-m.House, 52 Power Street - C

I hereby certify that this property is iicluded in the

- National-Register. C-; C - CC*..CA-

Chief, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation‘C - - C

Date - - - - - - . - - --

ATTEST: - - -

Keeper of The National Register

Date’:- -- -

GPO 905 .087

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORFORM 10301 A NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESPROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM

Typeall entries - attach to or enclosewith photograph1. NAMECOMMON AND/OR HISTORIC NUMERIC CODE A..tn.d by NPS

St. Joseph’sRomanCatholic Church

2. LOCATIONSTATE COUNTY TOWN

Rhode Island Providence ProvidenceSTREET AND NUMBER

86 Hope Street

.

‘

3. PHOTO REFERENCEPHOTO CREDIT DATE NEGATIVE FILED AT Rhode Island

Clifford M. Renshaw, III July, 1973 Historical PreservationCom

4. IDENTIFICATIONDESCRIBE VIEW. DIRECTION. ETC.

mission, JohnBrown House,2 Power Street, Providence,Rhode Island, 02906

Front of the church seenrectory of the 1880’s to

from the south-east,the right.

showing also the sacriaty and

GPO 932.009

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORNATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESPROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM

Typeall entries - attach to or enclosewith photograph

FORM 10.101 AIS/la

1. NAMECOMMON AND/OR HISTORIC NUMERIC CODE A..ign.d by NPS

St. Joseph’s RomanCatholic Church

2. LOCATIONSTATE COUNTY TOWN .

Rhode Island Providence ProvidenceSTREET AND NUMBER

86 Hope Street .

3. PHOTO REFERENCE .

PHOTO CREDIT DATE

Clifford M. Renshaw, III I July, 1973 I‘NEGATIVE FILED AT Rhode Is land

Historical PreservationCornm c4 John Trnt.rn

4. IDENTIFICATIONDESCRIBE VIEW. DIRECTION. ETC.

I9 PAr +.TRA1. Pr4dnr!,

Rhode Island, 02906

Interior of the church auditorium, looking west. .

-- GPO 932.009

St. Joseph’sRomanCatholic ChurchGeocranhica].Coordinates

Latitude:Longitude:

ruA T-,.

16.81"50.06"

4634

, y‘sI

4U

2

io

I’.

00

‘S Fuller r" Llghth

Form 10.301 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE

D.c. 1968 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Rhode Island

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTY

Providence -

PROPERTY MAP FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY

Type all entries - attach to or enclosewith snap ENTRY NUMBER DATE

..... . ** .:. . *....:..

o COMMON: Saint Joseph’s RomanCatholic Church- AND/OR HISTORIC:

I- LL0CATIONSTREET AND NUM BERt

u 84 Hope Street

CITY OR TOWN,Providence

STATE:CODE COUNTY: CODERhode Island 4/ Provjdenc 007

z jMAP REFERENCESOURCE:

- U.S. Geological Survey

LAJ SCALE: 1:24000

LUDATE: 1957 *.

TO BE INCLUDED ON ALL MAPS

1. Property broundaries where required.

2. North arrow.

3. Latitude and longitude reference.