{"nrhp_refnum":"83000721","name":"St. Joseph's Orphanage","other_names":["Mt. St. Joseph's School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"56 St. Joseph's St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fall River","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.69168680000007,"lon":-71.13284846799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick and granite former orphanage at 56 St. Joseph's Street in Fall River, Massachusetts, built in 1892 to designs by Louis G. Destremps and now used as Mt. St. Joseph's School.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a distinctive, carefully crafted and well-preserved example of Second Empire architecture. It also stands as an important Fall River social institution that housed over 20,000 children. It is a major element of the French-Canadian Notre Dame parish complex.","narrative":"Built in 1892, this four-story brick and granite building at 56 St. Joseph's Street in Fall River began as St. Joseph's Orphanage. It is a Second Empire design by local architect Louis G. Destremps, with a granite basement, marble sills, a high convex mansard roof, a copper cupola and a dentilled cornice. Wings were added in 1917 and 1923, and the main entrance was altered in 1930. The orphanage was founded in 1890 by Msgr. Jean-Alfred Prevost of Notre Dame Church to care for French orphans from the Flint neighborhood. The Sisters of Charity ran it, raising money door to door. Around 1915 it housed about 400 children, and over the years more than 20,000 children lived there, at times as many as 500. Since the orphanage closed in the mid-1960s it has served as Mt. St. Joseph's School. It was listed for its architecture and its role as a social institution tied to the Notre Dame parish.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Louis G. Destremps","architectural_style":"Second Empire","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Currently in use as Mt. St. Joseph's School, operated by the Sisters of Charity; the orphanage function ended around 1964.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.26575-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/41/7894/63789441/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000721.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000721/2fb6c37d0c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000721/2fb6c37d0c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mt_St_Jo_FR.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mt_St_Jo_FR.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789441","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Joseph%27s_Orphanage_(Fall_River,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7589205"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/st-josephs-orphanage-83000721/"}