About this property
St. Mary's Church is a Roman Catholic house of worship on Lodge Street in downtown Albany, New York, United States. It is a brick structure with an Italian Romanesque Revival exterior. Built in the 1860s, it is the third church to house the oldest Catholic congregation not only in the city, but in all of upstate New York. In 1977, St. Mary's Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places; it is also a contributing property to the Downtown Albany Historic District, listed several years later. The congregation of St. Mary's was established in the late 18th century. Early in the next century, the first church was built on the present location when the city donated the land, supposedly on the property where St. Isaac Jogues took shelter after escaping from captivity in the early 17th century. The current building, designed by local architects Nichols & Brown, is the third on the site; its tower was added in 1895. In the late 20th century, the interior and exterior were extensively renovated. Some important figures in the American Church have visited or been associated with the church. John McCloskey, the first Bishop of Albany and later the first American-born cardinal, made St. Mary's his procathedral briefly. John Neumann, later a saint, celebrated a Mass there as a newly ordained priest. Clarence A. Walworth, a convert from Episcopalianism, who was the first advocate for the sainthood of Kateri Tekakwitha, among other contributions to the Church, was pastor of St. Mary's for most of the late 19th century and was responsible for much of the look of the current building, inside and out. The church's interior incorporates a combination of the Mannerist and French Gothic styles, in contrast to its exterior. Upon completion of the tower in 1894, the church was wired, making it the first church in Albany to have electric lighting. In 1912, the original stained glass windows were replaced. Beyond these developments, there have been no significant changes to the building since its construction.
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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.
Everything a full report reveals about St. Mary's Church
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Questions about this property
When was St. Mary's Church listed on the National Register?
St. Mary's Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 13, 1977.
What type of historic resource is St. Mary's Church?
St. Mary's Church is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for St. Mary's Church?
The period of significance for St. Mary's Church is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near St. Mary's Church?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near St. Mary's Church will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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