
Notre Dame Catholic Church - Southbridge, Massachusetts
Posted by:
BruceS
N 42° 04.671 W 072° 02.200
18T E 745128 N 4662669
Quick Description: Historic Catholic Church in Southbridge, Massachusetts.
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 10/11/2008 8:07:52 PM
Waymark Code: WM4XYJ
Views: 4
Long Description:Notre Dame Parish was founded on November 29, 1869 and its first
church was a large wooden church. By the late 1800's the
congregation had grown substantially due to the influx of Canadian
immigrants coming from farms in French Canada to work in the mills
of Southbridge. With the growing population efforts were underway
to build a larger church building.
The building was designed by Joseph Venne of Montreal as
architect and the Roman artist Gonippo Raggi as artist-decorator.
The church was built of white marble bricks which were originally
intended as tombstones for the Spanish -American war. It has a red
Spanish tile roof, and measures 190 feet in length. The nave is 78
feet across and the transept is 123 feet long.
Construction was begun on March 25, 1911 and the church was
dedicated July 2, 1916.