Immaculate Conception Church (Washington, D.C.)

Style: Renaissance Revival
City: Washington, DC

Before Immaculate Conception was founded, St. Patrick's Church, built in 1794, was Washington's only Catholic parish; as it grew overcrowded, this parish was carved out to relieve it. The first church, near 8th and N Streets NW, had its cornerstone laid in 1864 and was dedicated in 1865 by Martin John Spalding, Archbishop of Baltimore. The congregation outgrew that building almost immediately, laying the cornerstone in 1870 for the present church at 1315 8th Street NW and dedicating it in 1874.

the building

The first church. The 1864 church didn't disappear once its replacement opened in 1874. The older building was converted into the parish's school and hall, a use it kept once the new sanctuary took over as the main church.

the style

Sources describe the building both as Renaissance Revival and, in the account of its 1870 cornerstone-laying, as a Gothic Revival design.

significance

The church, school, rectory, and convent together were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. The church building was refurbished in 1939 and again in 1962-63.

nearby

Bruce, Blanche K. House 0.1 mi · Second Empire · 1865
O Street Market 0.2 mi · Gothic Revival · 1881
Woodson, Carter G. House 0.3 mi · Victorian Terrace · 1890
American Federation of Labor 0.3 mi · 1916
The Lafayette 0.3 mi · Queen Anne
Central Public Library (Carnegie Library) 0.3 mi · Beaux-Arts · 1902

All 315 buildings in Washington, DC