{"nrhp_refnum":"75001197","name":"St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church and Rectory","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"108 Franklin St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rochester","county":"Monroe County","state":"NY","lat":43.15946666800005,"lon":-77.60631782099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-05-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["European","Architecture","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A greystone Greek Revival church with an attached Italianate brick rectory and walled garden at 108 Franklin Street in downtown Rochester, Monroe County, New York. The church was built 1843-46, the rectory was added in 1870, and the bell and clock tower dates from 1909.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the church as a landmark of the pre-Civil War era and a monumental undertaking by Rochester's German Catholic community under Redemptorist missionaries. It is also an architectural landmark of the central business district, built in the simple monumental Greek Revival tradition. The Redemptorists used it as the base for wide-ranging religious, educational and charitable work, and Father John N. Neumann spent part of his novitiate there.","narrative":"Built of rough-cut greystone between 1843 and 1846, St. Joseph's Church and its attached rectory form an island of architectural quality in downtown Rochester, an area otherwise marked by vacant lots and parking garages. The church follows a cruciform plan and uses a pattern of monumental arched bays with round-headed windows. An Italianate brick rectory was added in 1870 beside a walled garden, and a neo-Renaissance bell and clock tower replaced the old wooden steeple in 1909. Jones and Nevins were the original architect-builders. The church was created by Rochester's German Catholic community under Redemptorist missionaries, who went on to found nine parishes, a school, an orphanage and a business school. Father John N. Neumann, later Bishop of Philadelphia, spent part of his novitiate there. A fire in October 1974 destroyed the interior, and the future of the building was uncertain. Its tower clock became a familiar local landmark.","period_of_significance":"19th and 20th centuries; specific dates 1843-6, tower 1909, 1870","architect_builder":"Jones and Nevins (original church); Joseph H. Oberlies, architect, and Swan and Gorsline Construction Company, builder (1909 tower)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival church with Italianate rectory and neo-Renaissance tower","criteria":[],"status_note":"Interior gutted by fire in October 1974, leaving the structure's future uncertain; condition marked deteriorated; religious use, owned by the Redemptorist Fathers.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.80057-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/75001197.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001197/c6a876b17c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001197/c6a876b17c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marduk","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Josephs_Park.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marduk</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Josephs_Park.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318946","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Joseph%27s_Church_and_Rectory_(Rochester,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7589121"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/monroe-county/st-joseph-roman-catholic-church-and-rectory-75001197/"}