St. Peter's Church (Richmond, Virginia)

St. Peter's Church of Richmond, Virginia, United States, located at 800 E. Grace St., is the oldest Catholic Church in Richmond. From the erecting of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond in 1850 until the completion of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in 1906, St. Peter's Church served as the cathedral and seat of the diocese.[3] Originally, the church was predominantly Irish American. The church continues to serve a congregation of approximately 300 today.[4]

St. Peter's Church
Religion
AffiliationRoman Catholic
StatusActive
Location
Location800 E. Grace St., Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
Architecture
StyleNeoclassical
Completed1834
Specifications
Direction of façadesouthwest
Materials
St. Peter's Church
Location800 E. Grace St., Richmond, Virginia
Coordinates37°32′26″N 77°26′8″W
Area0.2 acres (0.081 ha)
Built1834 (1834)
Architectural styleRomanesque
NRHP reference No.69000358[1]
VLR No.127-0015
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 23, 1969
Designated VLRNovember 5, 1968[2]
Website
http://www.stpeterchurch1834.org/

After the Civil War, St. Peter's basement hosted the city's "colored Catholics." The 13-member congregation included Emily Mitchell (Indian-looking and born into slavery in 1824, brought from Baltimore and who later served Bishop James Gibbons), Julia Grandison (baptised in Georgia and brought to Richmond at age 9), Moses Marx (who began driving Bishop John Keane's buggy at age 12), Liza Marx (who learned to read and reminded the judge reading her mistress' will that he forgot the lines bequeathing money to Elizabeth Thompson and her next child of issue), and Julia Flippen and her children.[5] When the congregation had increased to about 50, including children, Bishop Keane signed a deed for what became St. Joseph's Church on Shockoe Hill, also invited the Josephite Fathers from Mill Hill, London, for help in furthering that apostolate.[6]

  • A photograph of the church from a 1914 publication

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. "St. Peter's Church" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  4. "Our History". St. Peter's Church. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  5. Nessa Theresa Baskerville Johnson, A Special Pilgrimaage: A History of Black Catholics in Richmond (Diocese of Richmond, 1978) at pp. 13-15
  6. Johnson, pp. 16-18


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