St George's Roman Catholic Church is located in

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and is a

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church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

constructed in 1915. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

(NRHP) in 1982, and the listing was increased in 1996. and

Founding

The first iteration of the parish was chartered in 1897, and a church, rectory and school was constructed along 18th Street in Marysville, later incorporated into Louisville. Due to a rapidly increasing population in the working-class neighborhood, Louisville architect Frederick Erhart was hired to design a

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

church that was dedicated in 1910. The old church was reused for an expansion of the school, which was later augmented with several additions.

1915 Relocation

In 1915, the original

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

was relocated from its original location facing 18th Street to Standard Avenue, and it was given a new foundation and brick veneer. In the place of the original, a larger two-story rectory was constructed, attached to the church by a central corridor. Population in the region contained to swell, so construction was completed on a new, three-level

catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

in 1923 along Standard Avenue. The school was expanded with a two-story addition in 1935, which included the completion of a smokestack and boiler, and two small, attached sheds.

1925 Relocation

Two years later, the

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network o ...

, later known as U.S. Route 31W, was established along 18th Street. The new designation brought forth additional traffic, and the roadway was widened to four-lanes. In addition, the

Louisville & Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of t ...

eliminated multiple at-grade crossings and replaced them with underpasses. As a result, the church property was affected and the building was relocated to face Standard Avenue in October. Continued growth in the neighborhood necessitated another expansion for the church, however,

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

delayed any construction until the war was resolved. In 1947, the expansion, a

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

nasium and classroom complex, was completed in two stages that was finished in the following year. The final construction project was the completion of a two-story

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

in 1959. The church was moved at some point. The NRHP listing was increased in 1996 to include a rectory and additional buildings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Georges Roman Catholic Church, Louisville Roman Catholic churches completed in 1909 National Register of Historic Places in Louisville, Kentucky Roman Catholic churches in Louisville, Kentucky Renaissance Revival architecture in Kentucky Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Relocated buildings and structures in Kentucky 1909 establishments in Kentucky Clergy houses

Founding

1915 Relocation

1925 Relocation

See also

Further reading

References