The Convent of Mercy, known today as the St. Francis Place Condominiums, is a small complex of historic

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

religious buildings in

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It consists of two buildings, the former convent and the former school. They were added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on April 24, 1992 as a part of the

Historic Roman Catholic Properties in Mobile Multiple Property Submission The Historic Roman Catholic Properties in Mobile Multiple Property Submission is a multiple property submission of Roman Catholic properties in Mobile, Alabama, that were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places. The submission ...

. It, along with the

Convent and Academy of the Visitation The Convent and Academy of the Visitation, properly known today as the Visitation Monastery, is a historic complex of Roman Catholic religious buildings and a small cemetery in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The buildings and grounds were docum ...

, is one of two surviving historic convent complexes in Mobile.

History

The

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

first came to Mobile in 1884 with the new bishop,

Dominic Manucy Dominic Manucy (December 20, 1823 – December 7, 1885) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first Vicar Apostolic of Brownsville (later the Diocese of Corpus Christi) from 1874 until his death in 1885, and also se ...

, for service in St. Joseph's Parish. Their social works mission included visiting the sick in their homes, the destitute in the

poorhouse A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy. Workhouses In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), ‘workhouse’ has been the ...

and the imprisoned in the jails. They also performed instruction in schools and prepared

sacramentals A sacramental in Christianity is a material object or action (in Latin ''sacramentalia'') ritually blessed by a priest to signal its association with the sacraments and so to incite reverence during acts of worship. They are recognised by the Cat ...

. They founded St. Joseph's School, later to be called the Convent of Mercy Academy, in St. Joseph's Parish in 1895. St. Joseph School was initially taught in five frame buildings on the property, with one as the residence of the Sisters. The cornerstone for a new -story

Baroque Revival The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculptur ...

–style building was laid on September 8, 1908. It was designed by architect A. H. Downey as a combination convent and school to replace the former frame structures. The student body grew over the next two decades to the extent that a new 3-story brick building was built to the rear of the existing building in 1928. It would serve as the school, while the 1908 building would serve as the convent. The school closed in 1968 and the Sisters moved their convent to another Mobile location in 1969. The former school building served to house the Empress Chandelier Company for a time. Then, in 2002, the complex was restored and renovated to house the St. Francis Place Condominiums.

References

{{Authority control National Register of Historic Places in Mobile, Alabama Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile Roman Catholic churches in Alabama Roman Catholic churches in Mobile, Alabama