Located next to the St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church on Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut, you will find one of the finest Neo-Gothic style buildings in the city that was not built by Yale University. This structure was constructed in 1907 as the Priory for the Catholic Church next door. Historically, the church had been under the care of the Dominican friars of the Province of St. Joseph, based in New York City, and the church needed a residence for the friars (a Priory). Due to dwindling attendance at churches all over the country, area churches were consolidated under the Hartford Archdiocese, who replaced the friar residents of this building with Dioscesan priests in late 2021.
The second oldest Roman Catholic parish in Connecticut can be found in New Haven, at the St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church. The parish was originally established in 1832, largely by Irish immigrants who settled in the area for work. The current St. Mary’s church building, located on Hillhouse Avenue near Yale University, was designed in 1870 by ecclesiastical architect James Murphy, and it was dedicated in 1874. The construction of a Catholic church on Hillhouse Avenue was strongly opposed by the Protestant elite who lived in the area, but the congregation prevailed. The Victorian Gothic style church is constructed of local blue stone and granite and while plans by Murphy originally included a corner spire for the building, it was not built until 1982 when the building was restored courtesy of the Knights of Columbus. The Knights of Columbus fraternal organization was actually founded in 1882 in New Haven by Father Michael J. McGivney, who originally held meetings in the basement of this church.
Believe it or not, the city of North Adams, Massachusetts has long been home to a large Italian population. The first waves of Italians first arrived to this part of the Berkshires in the mid-late 19th century, many of which were hired to build the Hoosac tunnel, which when it was finished, was the second longest tunnel in the world. It took almost 25 years to build! Some Italians were experienced stone carvers and others worked in the cotton mills and other factories in the area. As the Italian population grew, Roman Catholic churches were required for these new first- and second-generation families in the mill town. The first St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church was erected in North Adams in 1906. Four years later, the 1910 census noted that roughly 16% of North Adams’ population was of Italian descent. After the first church burned down around 1950, money was raised to build the present church which is located across the street from Mass MoCA. The church was designed by architect Anthony DePace (1892–1977), an American architect who designed numerous Roman Catholic churches throughout the Northeastern United States area during the mid to late 20th century. Architecturally, the building features late-Romanesque and Art Moderne details. Eventually, the decline in the number of Catholics in North Adams in recent decades led to the consolidation of parishes in 2009. St. Anthony’s is the sole remaining Catholic church in North Adams and the church and parish are now known as St. Elizabeth of Hungary, possibly after a merging of multiple parishes.
Buildings of New England 