St. Mary's Church--Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church - Tempe Arizona
N 33° 25.329 W 111° 56.116
12S E 413048 N 3698479
St. Mary's Church is significant as a prominent landmark in Tempe and as a representative example of Territorial Victorian Romanesque Revival architecture.
Waymark Code: WMAJ49
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 01/19/2011
Views: 14
Information from the Tempe Historic Preservation NRHP site:
St. Mary’s Church is a one-story structure of locally-made, fired red brick. It is rectangular in plan with a steep gable roof sloping east and west. The gable at the front façade is interrupted by a centrally-located square extension bell tower which terminates in an eight-sided steeple roof. The first story of the building begins above grade; below grade the building is constructed of rusticated blocks of local vesicular basalt. The round-arched main door is approached by a single flight of concrete steps. A stained glass fanlight surmounts the double entry door. Above the main doorway on the central tower is a round window, and above this a small round-arched window. A larger round-arched belfry opening near the top is replicated on four sides of the tower. Five round-arched windows occur at regular intervals on the east and west facades, and two flank the entrance on the north and south facades. The interior is an open hall with a narrow vestibule and choir loft across the south (entry) end. A series of three plastered vaults are supported on round composite Corinthian pilasters. A basement, partly below grade, spans the entire length of the building, and is divided into a variety of meeting rooms. It is reached by an exterior stair on the west side and an interior stairway at the west end of the vestibule.
This building was constructed to replace the earlier adobe chapel which served the Catholic community since 1881. The project was stimulated by Severinus Westhoff, O.F.M., a German immigrant who had come to the Tempe chapel in 1895, and who had started missions in both Scottsdale and Guadalupe. With the help of volunteer labor from both Mexican-American and Anglo community, the church was dedicated in 1903. Among the prominent citizens in Tempe who were originally involved in the church building project were John Curry, J. J. Hodnett, Winchester Miller, and J. T. Priest. The church was granted parish status in 1932, and was transferred to the Newman Club in 1962.
Street address:
College and University Ave
Tempe, AZ
County / Borough / Parish: Maricopa
Year listed: 1978
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering
Periods of significance: 1900-1924
Historic function: Religion
Current function: Religious Structure
Privately owned?: yes
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Hours of operation: Not listed
Secondary Website 1: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.