{"nrhp_refnum":"78002079","name":"Immaculate Conception Church, School, and Rectory","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Pavilion and Guido Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cincinnati","county":"Hamilton County","state":"OH","lat":39.10685923600005,"lon":-84.49637953124369,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Gothic Revival limestone church with an attached brick rectory and a limestone school, at Pavilion and Guido Streets on Mt. Adams in Cincinnati, Ohio. The church was completed in August 1859 and dedicated in December 1860.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is significant for its history, tradition, symbolic value and its position on the Mt. Adams hilltop, where it is a well-known visual landmark of Cincinnati. It is tied to the custom of \"Praying the Steps,\" a Good Friday pilgrimage begun around 1860, and to its 1862 designation as Cincinnati's only Pilgrim Church. It was evaluated as locally significant.","narrative":"Perched on a limestone outcropping on Mt. Adams, Immaculata Church is a Gothic Revival building of random limestone, completed in 1859 and dedicated in 1860. A 125-foot corner tower, lancet windows, buttresses and a cast iron statue of the Virgin Mary mark the exterior, while the interior holds seven large paintings by local artist Johann Schmitt. A plain brick rectory is attached at the rear, and a limestone school was built in stages from 1860 to 1920. The complex matters mainly for its tradition and its place on the skyline. Archbishop John Purcell founded the church to honor the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. From 1860, worshippers have climbed a long flight of steps to it, praying on each one, and in 1862 it became Cincinnati's only Pilgrim Church. Its hilltop position makes it a focal point of Mt. Adams and of the city.","period_of_significance":"1859","architect_builder":"Picket & Sons; John Toby, contractor","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival (church); Vernacular (rectory)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Church, school and rectory are in good, altered condition. The school currently serves as a community center housing a Montessori program.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.911895-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/78002079.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002079/8cbc9f8f49-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002079/8cbc9f8f49-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Photo by Greg Hume (Greg5030)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ImmaculateConceptionChurch.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Photo by Greg Hume (Greg5030)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ImmaculateConceptionChurch.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989247","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculata_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14716480"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/hamilton-county/immaculate-conception-church-school-and-rectory-78002079/"}