St. Joseph Catholic Church
National Register of Historic Places

St. Joseph Catholic Church

Tontitown, Arkansas
Listed
March 2, 2006
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
06000080

About this property

St. Joseph Catholic Church is a parish of the Catholic Church located in Tontitown, Arkansas, in the Diocese of Little Rock. The parish and the town were established by a group of Italian Americans led by Father Pietro Bandini, who settled in the area as miners and tenant farmers in the late 19th century. According to local tradition, a picture of Saint Joseph hanging in the schoolhouse was untouched by an arson fire, and the parish was therefore dedicated to him. The historic parish church is located at 110 E. Henri de Tonti Boulevard. It is a large Late Gothic structure, built in 1939–44 from rusticated concrete blocks that were fashioned on site. Its architecture is characterized by buttresses, lancet-arched windows, and a square tower with open belfry projecting at one corner. The main entrance, on the south gable end, has a projecting arched surround finished in stucco. The church has been a major cultural civic center for the local Italian community, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. It was delisted in 2024. The high school Ozark Catholic Academy is on the church property.

Location

Tontitown, Arkansas
36.17877, -94.23517
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Tontitown School Building
Industrial
0.2 mi
Bariola Farm
Industrial
0.6 mi
Elm Springs Cemetery, Historic Section
Listed
1.9 mi
Johnson House and Mill
Civil War
4.3 mi
Jackson House
Colonial
4.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was St. Joseph Catholic Church listed on the National Register?

St. Joseph Catholic Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 2, 2006.

What type of historic resource is St. Joseph Catholic Church?

St. Joseph Catholic Church is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for St. Joseph Catholic Church?

The period of significance for St. Joseph Catholic Church is recorded as the industrial era.

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