St. Mary's Church
- Year
- 1867
- Style
- Renaissance Revival
- City
- Albany, NY
St. Mary's Church is a brick Italian Romanesque Revival Roman Catholic church on Lodge Street in downtown Albany, built in the 1860s as the third building to house the oldest Catholic congregation in upstate New York. The city donated the site in the early 19th century for the first church, reportedly the spot where St. Isaac Jogues sheltered after escaping captivity. The current church, designed by local architects Nichols & Brown, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
the building
The tower. The church's tower wasn't part of the original 1860s design — it was added later, in 1895, giving the building the silhouette it's known by today.
A congregation's third home. This is the third church built on the site for Albany's oldest Catholic congregation, which traces back to the late 18th century. The land itself was donated by the city for the first building, on ground associated with St. Isaac Jogues's escape from captivity in the 17th century.
the style
The exterior is worked in an Italian Romanesque Revival mode over a brick structure, distinguishing it from the Renaissance Revival label sometimes applied to it in surveys. In the late 20th century both the interior and exterior underwent extensive renovation.
More on Renaissance Revivalthe architect
Nichols & Brown, a local Albany architectural firm, designed the current, third church building on the site.
significance
St. Mary's was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and is also a contributing property to the Downtown Albany Historic District, listed several years afterward. It has drawn figures significant to the American Catholic Church, including John McCloskey, the first Bishop of Albany and later the first American-born cardinal.
nearby
- New York Court of Appeals Building
- Albany City Hall
- St. Peter's Episcopal Church
- Union Station
- Old Post Office
- New York State Capitol