{"nrhp_refnum":"83000685","name":"Jesus Marie Convent","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"138 St. Joseph's St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fall River","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.690899012000045,"lon":-71.13162084799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick Second Empire convent and former girls' academy at 138 St. Joseph's Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, built in 1887 and designed by Fall River architect Louis G. Destremps.","why_significant":"The building is a distinctive example of Second Empire architecture and a key structure in the development of the French-Canadian Notre Dame parish. It housed Jesus Marie Academy, a private girls' high school, for eighty-four years. It meets Criteria A and C.","narrative":"Jesus Marie Convent is a four-story brick building with a mansard roof at 138 St. Joseph's Street in Fall River. Completed in 1887 to designs by local architect Louis G. Destremps, it combines Second Empire form with a central tower, Italianate window lintels, a dentiled cornice and dormers with peaked roofs. A 1928 addition and a 1939 auditorium were added later. The building grew out of the Notre Dame parish, founded in 1874 to serve French-Canadian families who came to work in the city's textile mills. The Sisters of Jesus Marie arrived in 1877 at the request of the parish's founding pastor and first lived in a modest wooden convent. The new building housed the sisters and Jesus Marie Academy, a private girls' high school, until the last class graduated in 1971. It was then converted into a retirement center and infirmary for retired nuns. It was listed for its architecture and its role in the French-Canadian community.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Louis G. Destremps (architect); Samuel Boucher, contractor for the 1928 addition","architectural_style":"Second Empire","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Used as a convent and retirement center-infirmary for retired nuns since 1971; the academy's last class graduated in 1971.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.609597-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/77/7894/63789477/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000685.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000685/e6f2f919ad-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000685/e6f2f919ad-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JMA_Fall_River.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JMA_Fall_River.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789477","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Marie_Convent_(Fall_River,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6188214"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/jesus-marie-convent-83000685/"}