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Description:
The complex of Saint Peter the Apostle Church and supporting buildings includes a church, rectory, belfry, convent, the original Girls’ School, and House of Mercy (later, The Academy). St. Peter the Apostle Roman Catholic Church at 13 South Poppleton Street, built between 1842 and 1945. Modeled after the Greek Temple, The Theseus, also known as Hephaesteum, St. Peter the Apostle is a church of the Greek Revival style with an exterior of the Doric order. The west façade has a double portico of granite with six Doric columns behind which are an equal number of brick pilasters. The columns support an entablature consisting of a plain architrave; modestly ornamented frieze of triglyphs typical of the Doric order, here carried out in molded brick; and a projecting stone cornice surmounted by a triangular pediment. Three recessed double doors with stone lintels and projecting stone frames provide entrance to the building. There is a mullioned, leaded transom above each door. The gable roof has the gentle slope characteristic of the ancient Greek style of architecture, combined with the east-west axis required in early Christian churches. The basement story is of hammered granite brought from quarries in Ellicott City, Howard County. The Rectory, at 848 Hollins Street, was constructed circa 1849, and is a three-story, three-bay long brick townhouse designed in 1843 by Robert Cary Long, Jr. A Belfry, which rises two stories above the church building, was built in 1848, and is capped on each of its four sides by a triangular pediment. A cross is situated on the peak of the roof. There are two narrow, arched windows on each side of the tower just below the pediment. Beneath each pair of windows is a bricked-in, arched space. A large bell weighing 2,000 pounds was hung in the belfry in 1848. This bell was removed and recast of the same metal in 1910 by the McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore. The bell is four feet high with a diameter of eight feet. The Convent of the Immaculate Conception, built circa 1865 to 1880, stands at 11 South Poppleton Street. It consists of a main building facing west with a wing that was later added to the north. They are of brick painted red. The main section is a five-bay, 3 ½-story brick structure with the entrance in the center bay. This entrance is a double door flanked by brick pilasters and topped with a simple entablature and cross. The windows of the first and second floors have jack arches over them. There is a stringcourse beneath the first floor windows and below the architrave. Beneath the lower one are two cellar windows in the southernmost bays. Above the upper stringcourse are five attic windows incorporated into the frieze. The entablature of the Convent repeats that of the church. This section has a nearly flat gable roof. The Original Girls’ School, standing with its rear façade facing on Booth Street, was erected in 1869 as a free school to accommodate classrooms for girls previously instructed in the church basement. It continued to be used for this purpose until 1917 when the present school building at 10 South Poppleton Street was constructed on the site of the original boys’ school. The school is a 2 ½-story, four-bay brick building with a gable roof. Its front façade faces the courtyard, and has two doors in the central bays of the first floor. There are no openings in these bays above the doors. There are 6/6 sash windows in the two outer bays on both the first and second floors. Above these are two attic windows with 3/3 sash. The rear of the building, facing Booth Street, is also 2 ½ stories, but has a basement. There are boarded-up windows in all floors of each of the four bays and two bricked-in cellar windows. The House of Mercy (later the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy), was built circa 1869. Originally two houses fronting on Callender Street, these buildings were converted for use in the care and training of distressed women and girls. The building is not presently used and its windows on the street façade have been boarded up.
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Significance:
This complex is significant for its architecture, its place in the religious history of Baltimore, and its contributions to the community. Designed by Robert Cary Long, Jr., then 24 years old, the church was modeled after the Greek Temple, The Theseus, also known as Hephaesteum. The Hephaesteum was named for Hephaestus, the ancient god of fire and metallurgy, and thus appropriate for the congregation of stokers and blacksmiths, the welders and boilermakers from the new and growing Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, whose roundhouse and shops were just two blocks to the south. The Saint Peter the Apostle Parish began as a mission in 1838 under the energetic Edward McColgan who, through 56 years as pastor, was to exert a heavy influence on the entire western segment of Baltimore City. The Sisters of Mercy established a convent on this site in 1855. Their purpose was to educate girls, protect homeless women and girls, and educate and train them to support themselves, to visit and nurse the sick, and maintain an infirmary. By 1860 the Sisters had opened two schools: one parochial school for the children of the laboring classes of the parish, and the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy for the daughters of the wealthier parishioners. The latter became one of the leading Catholic Schools in the city. It was closed in 1891, but the parochial school continued in operation well into the 20th century and the Sisters established a number of other schools in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and other parts of Maryland. About 1869 the two houses fronting on Callender Street were donated by Mrs. Emily Mactavish, granddaughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. They were outfitted to enable the Sisters to fulfill their Rule, the care and training of distressed women and girls. The Sisters also maintained an infirmary. In 1874 they took charge of the old Baltimore City Hospital. The nearby Lombard Street Infirmary (later Maryland University Hospital) was staffed by the Sisters from 1880 to 1889. In the latter year they founded the City Hospital of Baltimore at Calvert and Saratoga Streets, now Mercy Hospital. The St. Peter complex is now deeply involved in not only religious and educational activities, but is also frequently used by community organizations.
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