St. Joseph’s Chapel, St. John's (Blackhead), Newfoundland - Atlantic Canada Heritage Properties on Waymarking.com

A small one-room school located at Blackhead, a short distance from Cape Spear (famous for being the most easterly point in North America). On the outside, the small white building with it's neat white picket fencing is cute but not overly striking or impressive. Nevertheless, the building played a significant role in the development of the small fishing village of Blackhead (now a part of the City of St. John's). A sign posted on the from of the building reads:

Blackhead School and Church Museum St Joseph's was originally built as a one-room school during the summer of 1879 to educate the children of Blackhead. The Roman catholic Superintendent's report for the period indicated that about 10 students were enrolled in the school. A stone church was also located in the same area, on the eastern side of the school. By the late 1800's the mortar in the stone church had started to decay making the building unsafe for service. At that point, the wooden school assumed a dual role of place of worship and learning, St. Joseph’s Chapel, Blackhead was designated a Registered Heritage Structure on December 2, 2000 by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador.

St. Joseph’s Chapel was designated as a City of St. John's Heritage Building by the St. John's Municipal Council (1994-08-22) and as a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (2000-12-02). The following description of the building and it's significance is taken from the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland & Labrador website:

Description

St. Joseph’s Chapel is a small, wooden one-room school house located in Blackhead, on the outskirts of St. John’s, but within that city’s municipal boundaries. St. Joseph’s Chapel was built as a school in 1879 but soon had a dual-function as a school and church for the Roman Catholic community of Blackhead. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Statement of Significance

Formal Recognition Type

City of St. John's Heritage Building, Structure, Land or Area

Heritage Value

St. Joseph’s Chapel is designated as a municipal heritage building by the City of St. John’s due to its architectural and historic values. St. Joseph’s Chapel is historically valuable for its contribution to the development of the fishing community of Blackhead. St. Joseph’s Chapel played a pivotal role in the social and cultural development during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was built as a school in 1879, but soon after it also began to be used as a church when the adjacent stone church fell into disrepair. The Chapel served as a school from 1879 until 1965 and during this time it was the platform for the education and cultural advancement of the community. As a church, the Chapel was the religious centre of the Roman Catholic community in Blackhead and continued to be used for religious services until 1989. St. Joseph’s Chapel is valuable for its role as a centre of the community; the building was used for church and school as well as concerts and music lessons, while the grounds were used to host garden parties. St. Joseph’s Chapel is architecturally valuable as a rare example of a small wooden schoolhouse located in close proximity to St. John’s. The simple design of the chapel speaks to a particular time and place when such structures stood at the social and spiritual centre of a community. The wooden foundation of the building is square and the walls are studded framing with plank construction and were lined with birch bark during construction. Other elements that define the purpose of this building are the Gothic Revival vernacular interpretations; the steeply pitched roof with an extended front porch; the simple, six-over-six wooden windows; corner eaves brackets; simple wooden cross over the front door; and its white painted appearance. Source: City of St. John’s Council meeting held 1994/08/22.

Character Defining Elements

All those features that relate to the Gothic Revival vernacular design of the building as a small outport chapel/schoolhouse, including: -square floor plan with protruding porch; -steep gable roof; -wooden construction; -wooden, six over six windows, their style and fenestrations; -narrow wooden clapboard sheathing; -plain door and window trim; -wooden corner boards; -corner eaves brackets; -returned eaves on porch; and, -building size, massing, dimensions and height.

Source: https://heritagefoundation.ca/heritage-property/st-josephs-chapel-registered-heritage-structure/, accessed March 2019

URL of Page from Heritage Register: [Web Link] Site's Own URL: [Web Link] Address of site: 8 Blackhead Village Road, St. John's (Blackhead), Newfoundland

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