{"nrhp_refnum":"80002752","name":"St. Monica's Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"9420 160th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Queens","state":"NY","lat":40.70191885700007,"lon":-73.79755546399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick, basilica-shaped Roman Catholic church at 94-20 160th Street in Jamaica, Queens, built in 1856-57 by master mason Anders Peterson under the supervision of Reverend Anthony Farley.","why_significant":"The church is one of the earliest surviving examples of Early Romanesque Revival architecture in New York and one of few Roman Catholic churches built in that style rather than Gothic Revival. Its tall central campanile, round-arched openings, corbel tables and pilaster strips link it to the style. It also served the same congregation for 123 years.","narrative":"St. Monica's Church is a brick, basilica-shaped Roman Catholic church at 94-20 160th Street in Jamaica, Queens. Built in 1856-57 by Danish-born master mason Anders Peterson under the supervision of Reverend Anthony Farley, it has a four-story central entrance tower recalling the Romanesque architecture of northern Italy. Round-arched openings, corbel tables and thin pilaster strips give the building its vertical emphasis. An apse and flanking sacristies were added in 1891-93. The church is regarded as one of the earliest surviving examples of Early Romanesque Revival design in New York, and one of very few Catholic churches built in that style when Gothic Revival was being promoted for Catholic buildings. It replaced a small frame church of 1840 that served Irish Catholics drawn to Jamaica by farm work and the railroad. The congregation used it for 123 years. The building has been vacant for several years, and the interior has suffered vandalism and weather damage. It sits on land acquired by the city for York College, which plans to adapt it to new uses.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Anders Peterson under the supervision of Reverend Anthony Farley","architectural_style":"Early Romanesque Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Vacant for several years and sealed against further damage; vandals and weather have severely damaged the interior. The site is now owned by the city for York College, which plans to convert the building to other uses.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:41.403847-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002752.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002752/8f0639e5c7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002752/8f0639e5c7-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monica_CoE_94-12_160_St_jeh.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monica_CoE_94-12_160_St_jeh.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321155","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Monica%27s_Church_(Queens)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7590777"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/queens/st-monicas-church-80002752/"}