{"nrhp_refnum":"98000398","name":"Mount St. Peter Roman Catholic Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"100 Freeport Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Kensington","county":"Westmoreland County","state":"PA","lat":40.56384632400005,"lon":-79.76135893599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-05-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Social History","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Roman Catholic church complex on a hill overlooking downtown New Kensington, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, at Freeport Road and Seventh Avenue. It comprises the church, parish hall, sisters' home (convent) and parish school arranged around a quadrangle.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is significant under Criterion A for its association with aluminum workers at the New Kensington Production Works and for the role of its priest, Father Fusco, in labor matters. It is also argued to be significant under Criterion C as a local example of mid-20th century ecclesiastical architecture, built by Italian parishioners using salvaged materials from the Mellon Mansion in Pittsburgh and other buildings during wartime shortages.","narrative":"Built on a ridge east of downtown New Kensington, the church was completed in 1942 in the Art Deco style, with later buildings added around a quadrangle: a parish hall, a convent in 1948, and a two-story International-style school in 1946. Its red Michigan sandstone facing and much of its interior marble, bronze railings, carved wood and granite balustrade were salvaged from the R. K. Mellon mansion in Pittsburgh, dismantled between December 1940 and May 1941, and from other Pittsburgh buildings. Italian parishioners, many of them aluminum workers at the Alcoa plant, helped build it during wartime shortages of money, materials and labor. The church is also tied to Monsignor Nicola Fusco, the pastor from 1923, who was involved in Alcoa's labor relations and spoke from his pulpit on both sides of union questions. The complex is valued for its ties to the aluminum industry and for its reuse of materials.","period_of_significance":"1942-1948","architect_builder":"Enos Cooke (architect)","architectural_style":"Art Deco (church); International (parish school)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The complex is described as being in excellent condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:35.830823-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/98000398.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000398/b26344977b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000398/b26344977b-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Rudy4rachel (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Saint_Peter_Church.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Rudy4rachel (talk)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Saint_Peter_Church.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994069","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_St._Peter_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6923812"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/westmoreland-county/mount-st-peter-roman-catholic-church-98000398/"}