St. Joseph's Church (Springfield, Massachusetts)
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St. Joseph's Church was an historic
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
church at Howard Street and East Columbus Avenue in
Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...
. Built in 1873-77, it was a brick Romanesque Revival structure with brownstone trim, and was a fine local example of the style. It was the city's first church to specifically serve its French Canadian immigrant and French American population. The building 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 ...
in 1983. It was demolished in 2008.


Description and history

St. Joseph's was located in downtown Springfield, at the southeast corner of Howard Street and East Columbus Avenue, a site now occupied by a commercial building. It was a large single-story structure, built out of red brick with brownstone trim. It had a combination of Gothic and Romanesque elements, including buttressed walls and round-arch windows between the buttresses. The gabled roof included a central
clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...
, and a multistage square tower rose from the front of the church to a series of octagonal sections capped by a cross. The first Roman Catholic parish in western Massachusetts was established in 1860, at St. Michael's in Springfield. The Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts was organized in 1870 to better serve the growing Catholic population in the
Pioneer Valley The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial and promotional name for the portion of the Connecticut River Valley that is in Massachusetts in the United States. It is generally taken to comprise the three counties of Hampden County, Massachusetts, Ha ...
. The French Catholics of St. Michael's (predominantly French Canadian immigrants) pushed for establishment of a parish dedicated to their needs, and St. Joseph's was founded for that purpose in 1873. Friar Gagnier, who was from
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, is credited with designing the church, based on those he had seen in his homeland. Its basement was completed later in 1873, and services were held there until the entire building was completed in 1877. The church was closed in 2005. In March 2008, the church, which had been sold the previous year by the diocese, was demolished by the Colvest Group.


See also

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National Register of Historic Places listings in Springfield, Massachusetts __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Springfield, Massachusetts. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Springfield, Ma ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Hampden County, Massachusetts __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hampden County, Massachusetts. This is a list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Unite ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph's Church Former Roman Catholic church buildings in Massachusetts Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts Demolished churches in the United States Churches in Springfield, Massachusetts Roman Catholic churches completed in 1877 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Springfield, Massachusetts Buildings and structures demolished in 2008 Demolished buildings and structures in Massachusetts 1877 establishments in Massachusetts