St. Augustine Church, Philadelphia
- Architect
- Napoleon LeBrun
- Year
- 1847
- City
- Philadelphia, PA
St. Augustine Church was rebuilt in 1847 after Philadelphia's anti-Catholic Nativist Riots burned the original 1801 building to the ground on May 8, 1844. The congregation sued the city for failing to protect it, and used the resulting settlement to fund architect Napoleon LeBrun's Palladian-style replacement, which broke ground on May 27, 1847 and was consecrated in 1848.
the building
The Liberty Bell's sister bell. The original St. Augustine, founded as the first Augustinian church in the United States, once housed the Liberty Bell's so-called Sister Bell before the 1844 riots destroyed the building.
Seeding Villanova and the Orchestra. Organizations founded through the church went on to establish both Villanova University and the Philadelphia Orchestra, extending its influence well beyond the parish itself.
the style
LeBrun designed the rebuilt church in the Palladian style, a deliberate departure meant to give the congregation a dignified new presence after the destruction of its predecessor in the 1844 riots.
More on High Renaissance / Palladiansignificance
St. Augustine carries a Pennsylvania state historical marker and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, its 1847 rebuilding a direct legacy of the 1844 Nativist Riots and the lawsuit that followed them.
nearby
- Arch Street Friends Meeting House
- Christ Church
- Franklin Court
- Philadelphia Bourse
- Rohm and Haas Corporate Headquarters
- Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site