{"nrhp_refnum":"83003585","name":"Holy Trinity Church Rectory and Convent","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"704 N. Main and 106 W. Chestnut Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bloomington","county":"McLean County","state":"IL","lat":40.48513642300003,"lon":-88.99423427599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-12-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of three masonry buildings in downtown Bloomington, Illinois: Holy Trinity Church (1933), the Rectory (1896) and the Convent (begun 1863, enlarged 1892-93), at 704 N. Main and 106 W. Chestnut Streets.","why_significant":"The church is argued to be an exceptional example of stripped, Art Deco-influenced architecture applied to a religious building, designed by local architect Arthur F. Moratz. The Rectory represents the Richardsonian Romanesque work of local architect George H. Miller. The Convent housed St. Joseph's Academy, an educational center for Irish-American Catholic girls.","narrative":"Three connected buildings at the north end of Bloomington's downtown make up the Holy Trinity complex. The church, built in 1933 after a fire destroyed its predecessor, was designed by local architect Arthur F. Moratz. It reuses parts of the earlier foundation and walls, with a steel and concrete frame faced in hard-fired brick, a 138-foot steeple, Art Deco detailing and stained glass by Emil Frei of St. Louis. The 1896 rectory, designed by George H. Miller, is a Richardsonian Romanesque building of red sandstone and brick that has changed little. The convent began in 1863 and was enlarged in 1892-93. It housed St. Joseph's Academy, a boarding school for girls that operated from 1873 to 1924 and served Irish Catholic immigrant families. The convent was substantially remodeled in 1951 but retains enough historic fabric to convey its role. Together the buildings show the parish's development over several decades.","period_of_significance":"1863-1933","architect_builder":"Arthur F. Moratz, George Miller","architectural_style":"Modern Gothic / Stripped Architecture (church); Richardsonian Romanesque (rectory); Institutional Victorian Romanesque (convent)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in religious and private residence use; church and rectory in excellent condition, convent altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.916795-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/83/8936/28893683/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/83003585.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003585/a5140d3edb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003585/a5140d3edb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"IvoShandor","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bloomington_Il_Holy_Trinity_Church1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">IvoShandor</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bloomington_Il_Holy_Trinity_Church1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893683","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Trinity_Church_Rectory_and_Convent","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14687557"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/mclean-county/holy-trinity-church-rectory-and-convent-83003585/"}