Saint Joseph College and Mother Seton Shrine are two closely related campuses in

Emmitsburg, Maryland Emmitsburg is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania. Founded in 1785, Emmitsburg is the home of Mount St. Mary's University. The town has two Catholic pilgrim ...

, United States. It forms a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

that 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 1976.

Saint Joseph College

The campus is the original site of Saint Joseph's Academy, a Catholic school for girls from 1809 until 1973. The Saint Joseph College campus includes a variety of significant buildings including the Second Empire Burlando Building, St. Joseph's Chapel, and an early 19th-century brick barn. The chapel embraces a combination of the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

and

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 ...

styles. In June 1809,

Elizabeth Ann Seton Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (August 28, 1774 – January 4, 1821) was an American Catholic Church, Catholic religious and educator, known as a founder of the country's parochial school system. Born in New York and reared as an Episcopalian, she ...

(later canonized as the first native-born U.S. saint) arrived in Emmitsburg, Maryland and established Saint Joseph's Academy and Free School, the first free parochial school for girls in the United States. This school laid the foundation for the Catholic parochial school system in the United States.Mother Seton School: A Rich History Mother Seton wrote classroom textbooks and trained her Catholic sisters to become teachers, and accepted all students regardless of ability to pay. Saint Joseph's Academy and Free School developed into Saint Joseph College High School (1890-1946), Saint Joseph's High School (1946-1982), and Saint Joseph College (1902-1973), a four-year liberal arts college for women.History of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church: Historical Highlights of Saint Joseph's Parish In 1973, Saint Joseph College closed its doors and ceased operations due to declining enrollment numbers and rising operating costs. Students and faculty were merged with

Mount Saint Mary's University Mount St. Mary's University is a Private university, private Catholic university in Emmitsburg, Maryland, United States. It has the largest Catholic seminary in the United States. Undergraduate programs are divided between the College of Libera ...

, formerly a liberal arts men's college located two miles (3 km) south of Emmitsburg on U.S. Highway 15. Even after the school closed, The Daughters of Charity have continued Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton's legacy of helping educate children around the world. The college campus was purchased by the U.S. Government in 1979 for use as the

National Fire Academy The National Fire Academy (NFA) is one of two schools in the United States operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Operated and governed by the Unite ...

. It is home to the

United States Fire Administration The United States Fire Administration (USFA) is a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) located in Frederick County, Maryland, near Emmitsburg. Per the official website, "the mission of the U.S. Fire Administration is to supp ...

National Emergency Training Center The National Emergency Training Center (NETC) serves as an interagency emergency management training body for the United States government. The college campus was purchased by the U.S. Government in 1979 for use as the National Emergency Training ...

, and

Emergency Management Institute The National Disaster and Emergency Management University (NDEMU) of the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), serves as the United States’ focal point for the development and delivery of emergency management training. I ...

(EMI), which is operated by the Directorate of Preparedness branch of the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

(FEMA). The campus also includes the

learning resource center Learning Resource Centre (LRC) is a term which is used primarily in the United Kingdom to describe a type of library that exists within an educational setting such as a secondary school or university, distinguishable from a typical school library ...

(LRC) library, the National Fire Data Center, and the

National Fallen Firefighters Memorial The National Fallen Firefighters Memorial is a memorial to career and volunteer firefighters who died in the line of duty. Located in Emmitsburg, Maryland, it was conceived as a tribute to American fire service. The memorial was constructed in ...

Mother Seton Shrine

The second part of the historic district is part of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, which continues to be operated by the Daughters of Charity. The significant buildings here include the Stone House, which predates Mother Seton's arrival here, the White House, and Mother Seton's former tomb. The White House is the first building constructed after the founding of the college and was occupied on February 20, 1810. It has subsequently been expanded. Mother Seton is now buried in the nearby

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

that bears her name, but she was previously buried in a brick

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

in St. Joseph's cemetery. The Seton Shrine also includes the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and the adjacent St. Joseph's Provincial House, but they are outside of the boundaries of the historic district.

References

External links

*, including 2006 photo, at Maryland Historical Trust {{Colleges and universities in Maryland Emmitsburg, Maryland Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Religious buildings and structures in Frederick County, Maryland University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Defunct private universities and colleges in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Frederick County, Maryland