{"nrhp_refnum":"80000548","name":"St. Peters Catholic Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"935 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Worcester","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.253286520000074,"lon":-71.82105309299999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-03-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"St. Peter's Catholic Church is a red brick Victorian Gothic church at 935 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, built between 1884 and 1893 to designs by P.W. Ford of Boston.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as one of Worcester's most ornate Victorian church buildings, designed by an architect responsible for many of the city's Roman Catholic churches. It also marks the founding of a parish in 1884 to serve the growing Catholic population of southwestern Worcester. The themes checked are architecture and religion.","narrative":"St. Peter's Catholic Church, at 935 Main Street in Worcester, is a red brick Victorian Gothic building with granite trim, designed by P.W. Ford of Boston, who also designed many of the city's other Roman Catholic churches. The plan includes a high nave with enclosed side aisles, a transept, and a square tower at the southwest corner. The facade has three arched entries with alternating brick and stone voussoirs, paired arched windows, decorative brick panels, and a rose window. The tower rises in stages to a belfry, a corbelled cornice, a crenellated parapet and pinnacles. The parish was formed in May 1884 to serve the growing Catholic population of southwestern Worcester, especially near south Main Street. Ground was broken on June 6, 1884, and the cornerstone was laid on September 7. Worshippers used the basement chapel from late 1884, and the church was dedicated on completion in 1893. It remains an active church and is considered among the city's most ornate Victorian churches.","period_of_significance":"1884-1893","architect_builder":"P.W. Ford of Boston","architectural_style":"Victorian Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Present use is church; the form states it is unaltered and has not been moved.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.256086-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/59/7930/63793059/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000548.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000548/b32116757e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000548/b32116757e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Kenneth C. Zirkel","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Peter%27s_Catholic_Church_Worcester,_Massachusetts-2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Kenneth C. Zirkel</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Peter%27s_Catholic_Church_Worcester,_Massachusetts-2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793059","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peters_Catholic_Church_(Worcester,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7591470"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/st-peters-catholic-church-80000548/"}