{"nrhp_refnum":"12000342","name":"Church of Saints Peter and Paul Complex","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"720 & 736 W. Main, & 681 Brown Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rochester","county":"Monroe County","state":"NY","lat":43.15387614600007,"lon":-77.63220237999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-06-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A religious complex at 720 and 736 West Main Street and 681 Brown Street in Rochester, New York, with four contributing buildings: an Italian Renaissance Revival church (1911), a former school (1912), a rectory (1926) and a rectory garage (1926).","why_significant":"The complex is significant under Criterion C in architecture as an excellent example of Italian Renaissance Revival design applied to a religious campus, designed by the Rochester firm Gordon and Madden. It is also significant under Criterion A in social history for the parish's long service to its neighborhood, including its school and later its meal and clothing ministries.","narrative":"Built between 1911 and 1926 on West Main Street in Rochester, this church complex includes a large Italian Renaissance Revival church, a former parish school, a rectory and a rectory garage. Edwin Gordon and William Madden designed the church and school, drawing on the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls in Rome and a bell tower modeled on one in Lucca. The brick church has a columned loggia, a 145-foot bell tower and an ornate interior with murals by Gonippo Raggi. The rectory, remodeled in 1926 by Joseph Oberlies and George Lorenz, adds Arts and Crafts features. The parish, founded in 1843, moved here in 1911 after its earlier property was sold to a railroad. Its school operated until 1972, and from the 1980s parishioners ran a kitchen and clothing ministry serving the neighborhood. The buildings are valued both as a cohesive architectural group and as a center of community service. The complex remains in worship use today.","period_of_significance":"1911-1926","architect_builder":"Edwin S. Gordon & William V. Madden (church & school); Joseph H. Oberlies & George F. Lorenz (Rectory)","architectural_style":"20th Century Revival: Italian Renaissance","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The church complex is still actively used for worship and community mission work; the former school has been divided into apartments.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.831244-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/12000342.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000342/4bfc1cf51f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000342/4bfc1cf51f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"DanielPenfield","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ChurchOfSaintsPeterAndPaulRochesterNewYorkFrontView.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">DanielPenfield</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ChurchOfSaintsPeterAndPaulRochesterNewYorkFrontView.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318782","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Saints_Peter_and_Paul_(Rochester,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23091467"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/monroe-county/church-of-saints-peter-and-paul-complex-12000342/"}