Major Bibliographical References (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.) Previous documentation on file (NPS): HPCA #18,631 Primary location of additional data: - preliminary determination of individual listing (36 x State Historic Preservation Office CFR 67) has been requested - Other State agency - previously listed in the National Register - Federal agency - previously determined eligible by the National x Local government Register - University - designated a National Historic Landmark - Other _ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey Name of repository: # _Pollard Memorial Library, Lowell, MA - recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA Section number_ 8 Page 1 Statement of Significance The Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys at 760 Merrimack Street in Lowell (later known as St. Joseph's High School), constructed in 1892, meets Criterion A as a noteworthy example of a parochial educational facility established to serve the growing French-Canadian immigrant population of Lowell during the late 19"h century, and Criterion C as a well-preserved example of a Romanesque Revival-style educational facility. As a religious property during its primary significance from its historical importance and architectural significance, the school also fulfils Criteria Consideration A.
The school, with a period of significance of 1892-1959, is significant at the local level and retains its integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The construction of the Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys was undertaken as an expansion of parochial educational facilities under the French-Canadian Roman Catholic parish of Saint Jean-Baptiste in "Little Canada," a section of The Acre neighborhood of Lowell. This Romanesque Revival-style building is one of the few remaining historic structures to survive the widespread urban renewal undertaken in The Acre in the 1950s and 1960s. The Romanesque Revival style was a popular style utilized during the second half of the 19" century in downtown Lowell.
Although primarily seen in municipal architecture as represented by several examples listed in the National Register including LowellCityHall(LHD, 1983; NRDIS,1975), Central Fire Station-Engine Company #3 (LHD, 1983; NRDIS, 1978), and Middlesex County Courthouse (NRDIS,1982), the style was also popular in religious/institutional architecture including, but not limited to, the Lee Street Second Unitarian Church (LHD, 1983; NRDIS, 1975), Saint Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Saint Michael's Roman Catholic Church, Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic Elementary School (NRIND, 2002), and the Lowell Jail - Keith Academy (LHD, 1983; NRDIS, 1982).
In addition, several industrial and commercial buildings were also executed in the Romanesque Revival style, including the following extant examples: Simpson and Rowland Company Building (LHD, 1983; NRDIS, 1978), Pickering Knitting Company, Hood's Sarsaparilla Laboratory (LHD, 1983; NRDIS, 1982). Additional examples of this popular style are also located throughout the city. A Brief History of Lowell, MA Francis Cabot Lowell was the founder of the city of Lowell. A prominent local importer of English textiles, Lowell, together with his brother in law, Patrick Johnson, established the Boston Manufacturing Company in 1812, in Waltham, MA. Drawing from his lengthy experience in the mercantile trade, Lowell wanted to capitalize on the growing demand for textiles in the United States by investing in the textile industry.
In the early 19"h century, Lowell traveled to various European industrial cities including Manchester, England. While there, Lowell developed an understanding for the industry by touring textile mills and studying the machinery. He may also have visited the Scottish "improvements," or planned villages, established by prominent landowners that afforded tenants respectable living and working conditions, thus creating a healthy environment in which the community could prosper. It was here, in the present-day city of Lowell, that the Boston Manufacturing Company (whose executives were known as The Boston Associates) created the country's first fully integrated textile mill, in which the entire textile process was undertaken from start to finish within a single facility. This process was dubbed the "Waltham-Lowell System" after the geographical locations of its origin and its inventor.
The designs for the Waltham-Lowell System, including the plans for both the facility and its equipment, were modeled after the European factories that Lowell toured while abroad. Building on their success, Lowell and The Boston Associates set out to create a community, from the ground up, entirely developed around and devoted to industry. Despite Lowell's death in 1817, Nathan Appleton and Patrick Tracey Jackson, along with other prominent members of The Boston Associates, pursued Lowell's vision for a planned industrial community. The (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA Section number 8 Page 2 Boston Associates identified a large plot of land that was originally part of Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Ideally situated at the confluence of the Merrimack and Concord Rivers approximately 30 miles northwest of Boston, the area was even more suited to manufacturing due to the presence of an existing lock and canal system around the Pawtucket Falls, built for the transportation of lumber and goods, constructed and operated by the Proprietors of Locks and Canals. By 1822, members of The Boston Associates had begun quietly but aggressively purchasing a majority of the land surrounding the Pawtucket Canal (1796) and the Merrimack River.
The majority of the physical construction of the plan was overseen by a former officer of the British Army, Kirk Boott, who quickly assumed the role of planner, architect, and engineer for The Boston Associates. By 1825, The Boston Associates assumed control of and restructured the Proprietors of Locks and Canals to utilize the company as a management tool in the development of their real estate and water rights The Boston Associates dammed the Merrimack River and expanded the canal system in 1816. With the increase in power supply, mills were rapidly constructed in Lowell, including the Hamilton Mills (1826), Appleton Mills (1828), Lowell Mills (1829), Middlesex Mills (1831, no longer extant), Suffolk Mills (1832), Tremont Mills (1832, no longer extant), Lawrence Mills (1833), Boott Mills (1836), and Massachusetts Mills (1840).
As a result of its rapid development, Lowell was established as a town of 2,500 residents in 1826, and as a city in 1836 with a population of nearly20,000. By 1850, the City had 33,000 residents, second only to Boston as the largest city in the Commonwealth. Lowell's Early Residents - "Mill Girls" In the late 1820s and 1830s, most mills throughout New England employed entire families. In Lowell, an unconventional system of recruiting workers was instituted as another part of Lowell's formula for a new American industrial city. These mills employed mainly young, single women, primarily between the ages of 15 and 25, known as "mill girls," from rural communities throughout New England.
Because entire families were not initially or actively recruited to work in Lowell's mills, The Boston Associates and other local mill owners employed the principles of the Scottish "improvements" through the construction of mill-owned, operated, and overseen boardinghouses. The boardinghouse system included long rows of housing constructed within walking distance to the mills. Originally constructed of wood, these older boardinghouses were soon replaced by brick structures. As young female workers without family in the city, the girls were required to live in the boardinghouses. By the mid-1830s, nearly three quarters of all females in the city lived in mill-owned boardinghouses. The women, along with the other individuals hired to work in the mills of Lowell, worked fourteen-hour workdays.
These workers were routinely required to stand for a majority of the day, windows were regularly nailed shut to maintain necessary humidity for the production of yarn, and the living conditions of the boardinghouses were cramped and poorly ventilated and maintained. Although the mill girls were able to leave their rural communities, their independence came at a heavy price and was brief. On average, a woman worked in the mills for three years, with many leaving due to the conditions, to marry, to migrate to the west, to find other employment, or to return to their families. Throughout the 19t century, the mill workers fought, through organized strikes, for better conditions and shorter work days (an action not taken by the Massachusetts legislature until 1874 when the ten-hour work day was instituted).
By the mid-1840s, single women began departing the mill workforce in Lowell, forcing mill agents to recruit their laborers from elsewhere. The Irish in The Acre The mill girls were replaced by Irish immigrants who were willing to work for cheaper wages. Despite the fact that productivity had increased dramatically by 1860, many of Lowell's mill workers, and most especially its immigrant female workers, were earning less than the mill girls. Mill owners recruited the cheap Irish labor force, who ultimately (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA Section number_ 8 Page 3 hanged the demographic of the city. The single women were replaced with a great number of families.
Boardinghouse vere continually reserved for locally-born residents, known as "Yankees" even though this group of workers was rapid! bandoning the city. Because lodging was hard to procure, and the Irish immigrants preferred to live with members of heir own nationality due to language and cultural familiarity, new neighborhoods began to develop in the city. Iris Catholic neighborhoods were the earliest and most prevalent communities developing during that period, often consisting of nothing more than a makeshift collection of tents, known as "Paddy Camp Lands:" [W]ithin a few rods of the canals is a settlement, called by some, New Dublin, which occupies rather more than an acre of ground.
It contains a population of not far from 500 Irish, who dwell in about 100 cabins, from 7 to 10 feet in height, built of slabs and rough boards...' The failure of mill owners to accommodate the Irish and subsequent groups of arriving immigrants in company-owned and operated boardinghouses set a precedent that permanently influenced and shaped community life in the city. Beginning with the Irish during the 1840s, immigrant groups settled in new neighborhoods removed from the city's mills, and this outside the control of the mill owners. This trend was not unique to the Irish, but occurred with each new wave of immigration to the city. The predominant Irish neighborhood in Lowell was known as The Acre. The Acre neighborhood is roughly bounded by Dutton Street to the east, the Northern Canal to the north, the Merrimack River and Wilder Street to the west, and Western Avenue to the south.
Located across the western canal from most of the mills, The Acre originally consisted of, and earned its name from, the acre of land that was granted to Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick (the Second Bishop of Boston) for settlement of the Irish immigrants working on the early canal improvements. The Irish prided themselves on their Catholic faith and developed the neighborhood into a place that reflected their religious beliefs. They constructed the original wood-frame Saint Patrick's Catholic Church on Suffolk Street in the north-central portion of The Acre in 1831 (demolished 1853), and in 1852, the parishioners of Saint Patrick's established an academy for girls (demolished) directly adjacent to the church.
In 1882, Saint Patrick's Church established a school for boys in the former Saint Mary's Methodist Church (demolished 1939-1940), located at 378 Suffolk Street, near Market Street in the central portion of The Acre. The school for boys was overseen by the Xaverian Brothers. By the 1890s, the Saint Patrick's Church property (constructed proximate to the original wood-frame church) included the girl's school, the boy's school, a rectory, a convent, the church, and a "Home for Working Girls." Most of these buildings were subsequently razed for church parking. The Acre functioned as a self-sufficient neighborhood. By the last quarter of the 19" century, The Acre boasted a number of family-run businesses. The majority of the immigrants who lived in The Acre worked in the nearby mills, but their free time was primarily spent in The Acre.
The neighborhood was a bustling hub of activity of locally owned establishments nestled throughout the neighborhood. Generally, businesses occupied the first floors of housing blocks, with residential living quarters for the family located above. Prominent family-owned and operated businesses in The Acre during the height of its Irish occupancy included O'Connell's Bar at the corner of Broadway and School Street, the Lyons Store at 23-25 Cross Street, Dunfey's Luncheonette at 353 Broadway, Kiernan Pharmacy at the corner of Broadway and School Street, and the James F. O'Connell Funeral Home at the intersection of Market and Worthen Streets. Most of these buildings were demolished or heavily altered during mid 20**-century urban renewal. (continued) Dublin, Thomas. Women At Work: A Transformation of Work and Community in Lowell, Massachusetts, 1826-1860. Columbia University Press.
New York, 1979, pg. 146. NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA Section number 8 Page_ 4 The French-Canadian Settlement of "Little Canada" Following the Civil War, French-Canadians living in rural portions of Quebec were under enormous financial strain brought on by sharply declining agricultural production. Because industry in Canada was still in its infancy, many French-Canadians relocated to the booming industrial city of Lowell. Though mill agents and recruiters encouraged the initial waves of French-Canadian immigration, by the 1870s, the well-established French-Canadian community encouraged their own family members to relocate to Lowell for work.
Between 1860 and 1890, nearly 600,000 French- Canadians relocated to New England, and by 1890, French-Canadian immigrants made up approximately 10% of the population of all New Englanders. In Lowell, the number of French-Canadian immigrants rose steadily throughout the second half of the 19* century, increasing from about 2,000 residents in 1870 to more than 14,000 in 1905. By this time, the French-Canadian immigrant population had surpassed the Irish and was the largest foreign-born group within Lowell. By the outbreak of World War I, French-Canadians accounted for approximately 20% of the city's population. Like the Irish before them, the French-Canadians sought Lowell as a safe haven from the financial, agricultural, and economic hardships at home.
This group of immigrants made the decision to migrate south, not necessarily to seek out a better or higher standard of living, but rather, simply, to avoid falling to a lower one. As the French-Canadians settled in Lowell, they, like the Irish, moved to The Acre. Though located in the same neighborhood, the French-Canadians remained geographically isolated from the Irish by creating their own community, known as "Little Canada," which was located within the northernmost portion of The Acre, sandwiched between the predominantly Irish neighborhood directly to the south and the sweeping bend of the Merrimack River to the north. Much like the nearby Irish immigrant neighborhood, Little Canada was able to function as a nearly independent community for the French-Canadian population of Lowell.
Over the next century, the established immigrant neighborhoods of The Acre and Little Canada began to be settled by newly arrived immigrant groups, primarily from Southeast Asia and Puerto Rico. In the 1960s, federally funded, large-scale urban renewal housing projects swept through these neighborhoods, which were seen as cramped, dense, poverty-stricken areas. In Lowell, as was the case in many cities, the urban renewal program destroyed a number of the city's finest mill buildings, as well as entire culturally connected neighborhoods, such as Little Canada. Today, Little Canada remains a discontinuous, remnant neighborhood, that consists mainly of large mid to late 20*-century housing complexes and vacant lots.
Though nearly all of Little Canada's buildings have been lost, there are a number of surviving structures that represent its founding French-Canadian community including substantial masonry structures associated with the Catholic Church constructed in the 19t and early 20** centuries. French-Canadian Catholics in Lowell The establishment of the Roman Catholic faith in Lowell began with the Irish. Upon their arrival, Irish Catholics faced persecution not only because of their Irish descent, but for their religious affiliation, which was seen as contrary to the majority of the Protestant "Yankees" in Lowell. Early Irish immigrants constructed the city's first Roman Catholic Church, the wood-frame Saint Patrick's Catholic Church, in 1831. It was replaced in 1853 by the present-day stone church on the same site, at 284 Suffolk Street (NRDIS, 1978; NRIND, 1985).
During the construction of the original Saint Patrick's Church, "Yankee" workers in the city attacked the construction site in protest of the Irish Catholics' presence in the city. The attackers, in turn, were met by a mob of stone-throwing Irish. Over the years, tensions over religion remained heightened, and in the 1850s, "Yankee" mobs again attacked Saint Patrick's Church, this time in protest of the construction of Catholic schools in the city, which they considered un-American. These mobs were again greeted by the stone-throwing members of the Irish community. Local newspapers condemned the acts of violence and bigotry, but the prejudice and segregation continued. (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA Section number 8 Page 5 Juring this period of ethnic intolerance, a leader of the Irish immigrant community was Father John O Brien, the pastor ot Saint Patrick's Church. As a strong and deeply committed voice within the Irish community, Father O'Brien understood the hardship of his parishioners. He also understood the value of education, and its utility as an agent for change. Thus, he began the pursuit of instituting parochial educational facilities in Lowell. Three Catholic school programs, serving boys and girls, existed within the parish (the exact locations of these facilities are unknown), each funded, in part, by the town of Lowell.
The appropriation of funds for schools affiliated with religious institutions was a common practice in the first half of the 19* century with the provisos that the school committee examine and appoint all teachers, regulate the textbooks and studies, and inspect and supervise the parish schools in the same manner it oversaw the town's school. Under this system, the parish owned the school facilities, but the teachers were paid by the school committee. Under this plan, the number of students, both boys and girls, exploded from a few hundred in 1835 to more than 3,800 in 1845. Despite the popularity of this system, which, in addition to educating children, served as an early form of day-care for parents working in Lowell's mills, the system failed when St. Patrick's parish was unable to find enough qualified lay Catholic teachers that met the town's requirements to work within its system.
To address this problem, Father O'Brien invited the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to come to Lowell in 1852 to serve in the parochial school system. The inclusion of nuns into the school system was objectionable to the town and the system of public funding for Lowell's Catholic schools was ended. The Sisters served the young girls of Lowell, as they were prohibited by the rules for their Order from teaching boys. Though the original school building, known as the Academy, is no longer extant, the school still exists and remains under the direction of the Sisters of Notre Dame. The present school, known as the Saint Patrick's Parish School, is currently a co-educational facility for children in pre-kindergarten to eighth grade and is located at 311 Adams Street, directly across the street from the Academy's original location.
With the advantages of education, the young Irish immigrants were afforded an opportunity to earn a better living as educated and skilled workers. Because most children over the age of twelve worked in the mills to help support their families, educational institutions during this time catered primarily to the younger children. As the Irish immigrant community reached its peak within the city, the French-Canadian immigrant community began to settle in Lowell. Because the French-Canadians, like the Irish, were of Catholic descent, places of worship, considered unwelcome by many Protestants in the city, were established to service the spiritual needs of the French-Canadian community. For a time, French-Canadians attended Catholic mass at Saint Patrick's Church, but desired mass to be delivered in French. In 1867, Bishop John J.
Williams of Boston requested that Canadian Oblates from the Montreal parish come to Lowell to serve the spiritual needs of the French-Canadian immigrants in the city. At that time, Lowell's population consisted of 40,000 to 50,000 residents; 16,000 of these residents were of the Catholic faith, including nearly 3,000 French-Canadians. The Irish Catholics had two churches in operation in the city, which included Saint Patrick's Church on Suffolk Street and Saint Peter's Church on Gorham Street (NRDIS, 1982; constructed 1843, demolished 1996). The Canadian Oblates, upon acceptance of the bishop's request, sent Father Andre-Marie Garin of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate to Lowell to found a Franco-American church in Lowell to serve the growing French-Canadian Catholic population.
Born in France, in 1822, Father Garin came to Lowell in 1868 and would serve as the French-Canadian Catholics' religious leader until his death in 1895. Upon his arrival, Garin immediately purchased the recently abandoned Lee Street Second Unitarian Church, constructed in 1850 (extant NRDIS: 1975, NRDIS: 1978) in the eastern portion of The Acre, within a few blocks of Little Canada, for $11,500, to be paid over a five-year period. It was the first Franco-American (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA Sectionnumber 8 Page6 parish in the Archdiocese of Boston. The first mass in the newly acquired church was celebrated on Sunday May 3, 1868.
The day marked the feast of the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, and Saint Joseph was immediately declared the church's patron saint. On June 26, 1868, the Oblates were officially established in the Archdiocese of Boston. By 1872, Saint Joseph's Church had roughly 2,400 parishioners and served as both the religious and social center for the French- Canadian community, most of whom had settled approximately ten blocks away, in Little Canada. As the French- Canadian community grew, Saint Joseph's Church was no longer sufficient to hold mass for the expanding French- Canadian population.
[To this day, Saint Joseph's Church (renamed Saint Joseph the Worker Shrine in 1956 under the encouragement of Richard Cardinal Cushing of Boston) remains a religious edifice, serving the Catholic community of Lowell.] To meet the community's needs, the Archdiocese decided to erect a prominent and monumental church within "Little Canada." The location for the new church was positioned along the major thoroughfare of the neighborhood, at the corner of Merrimack and Aiken Streets in the northern portion of The Acre. Construction on the new structure commenced in 1889, and Saint Jean-Baptiste Church, which became the centerpiece of the French-Canadian Catholic community in Lowell, was completed in 1891.
Over the next century, due to significant changes in demographic and the efforts of urban renewal in the city, Saint Jean-Baptiste Church eventually became too large for the rapidly diminishing Franco-American population that was moving to the suburbs. In 1993, the parish of Saint Jean-Baptiste was dissolved, and the Nuestra Señora del Carmen parish was formed. The church was still the responsibility of the Oblate Fathers, but focused primarily on the spiritual needs of the rapidly expanding Hispanic population of Lowell until it closed in 2004. Saint Joseph's School Much like his Irish counterpart in The Acre, Father Garin understood the vital importance of education and its association with his parishioners' success in the workforce.
After completion of the Saint Jean-Baptiste Church, Garin's attentions focused on the education of the youngest of the French-Canadian immigrants in the city. Concurrent with their desire for French-speaking masses, the French-Canadian parishioners also desired French-speaking Catholic schools (described in greater detail in the 2002 National Register nomination for the Saint Joseph's School and Convent). By 1876, Father Garin instituted night classes for working children within the French-Canadian community, presumably held in Saint Joseph's Church. Over 800 young boys and girls attended these initial night classes, and by 1883, the Archdiocese established its first French-speaking school in Lowell.
Located on Moody Street, Saint Joseph's School (NRDIS, 2002), named after the original Franco-American church in the city, provided a Catholic education to children and preserved the cultural traditions of the French-Canadian community. The school wasplaced under the direction of the Grey Nuns of the Cross, also known as the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa. The school served children up to age twelve, as most children over that age were working in the mills. In its first year, Saint Joseph's School enrolled 490 boys and 300 girls. By 1887, enrollment rose to more than 1,300 students. With extremely limited space, additional classrooms were needed. That same year, Father Garin purchased a private residence at 510 Moody Street to alleviate the overflow of students at Saint Joseph's School.
Known as "the Little White School" (demolished), it accepted approximately 100 boys between the ages of seven and ten. Even with the addition of this second school building, the number of students increased, forcing Father Garin to procure additional space to serve the community. Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys During this expansion period of the Franco-American schools, members ofthe Lowell School Committee inspected Father Garin's two schools on Moody Street and were very impressed. According to the Committee, the facilities (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA Section number 8 Page_7 provided to the French-Canadian children were of the highest quality; so high, in fact, that the Lowell School Committee did not believe that the public school facilities could ever surpass them. Although the two French-Canadian schools received exemplary reviews from the committee in their co-educational format, the Boston Archdiocese was implementing a new single-sex curriculum throughout the Archdiocese. In 1892, the Boston Archdiocese established Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys at 760 Merrimack Street to accommodate both the rapid expansion of the French-Canadian community in Lowell and to implement a single-sex educational system.
The Irish underwent the same measures in their own educational system, establishing a school for girls in 1852 and a school for boys in 1882. Boys from the original Saint Joseph's School on Moody Street were transferred to the newly constructed school on Merrimack Street. According to the Department of Public Safety card file at the State Archives, the architect for "Saint Joseph's College on Merrimack Street" was Patrick W. Ford, who filed plans on November 16, 1891. Patrick W. Ford was a well-known church architect who was born in Cork, Ireland. He came to America in the 1860s, first settling in Worcester. By 1872, he had an office in Boston, and in 1896 he built his own house in Jamaica Plain (48 Peter Parley Road), where he lived until at least 1914.
He completed numerous commissions across the state for the Roman Catholic Church, including Saint John Baptiste Roman Catholic Church in Lowell (1888), Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church in Andover (1895), Saint Brendan's Roman Catholic Church in Bellingham (1895), Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Boston (1893), Gate of Heaven Roman Catholic Church in Boston (1896), Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Cambridge (1874), and many more. Built in the heart of the French-Canadian parish of Lowell, Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys was extremely successful in its earliest years, with enrollment soaring to approximately 1,100 pupils by 1900. The operation of the school was under the direction of the Marist Brothers, a renowned group of Catholic teaching brothers dedicated to the education of young people throughout the United States and Canada.
The Marist Brothers arrived in Lowell from Canada in 1892, at the request of Father Garin and the Archdiocese of Boston, in order to run the boys' school on Merrimack Street. Though the school originally provided education only for those youngsters up to the age of twelve, by 1907, Brother Priscillianus, director of the school, introduced high school-level courses equivalent to the ninth grade into the curriculum. He modeled his high school curriculum after those established in the province of Quebec and instituted supplementary business training for his pupils. In 1910, the high school courses were discontinued due to financial constraints on the parish. A decade later, the high school curriculum resumed at Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys, and by 1928, a second year (equivalent to the tenth grade) course load was established with 32 students enrolled for the classes.
By this time, the high school curriculum was also supplemented with typing, bookkeeping, and physics courses. Because Saint Joseph's only included courses up to the sophomore year, junior- and senior-year students were required to transfer from Saint Joseph's to the city-run Lowell High School to finish their course of study. During the same year, the Archdiocese constructed the Parish Hall adjacent to the school following a devastating fire in the basement of the nearby Saint Jean-Baptiste Church that destroyed the original Parish Hall space. Due to the financial panic following 1929, Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys was again forced close but reopened four years later.
In 1928, simultaneous to the establishment of the boys' sophomore-level course of study at Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys, the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa established the Saint Joseph's High School for Girls. The girl's high school, which was independent from the Marist Brothers' operation on Merrimack Street, was formed in a single classroom of the fourth floor of the girl's elementary school (Saint Joseph's School) on Moody Street. The next (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA Section number 8 Page 8 year, the girl's high school relocated to a two-story building on Pawtucket Street, only to relocate to the elementary school after the financial fallout of 1929. By 1937, the rapidly expanding enrollment of the girl's high school relocated to the Marist Brothers' Residence at the corner of Pawtucket and Moody Streets. Until 1966, the Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys served the sons of the Franco-American Catholic :ommunity of the city, and its daughters were served by the Saint Joseph's School for Girls. Both schools educated th ommunity's young people and instituted Catholic ideals into their everyday lives.
They continued to be independentl run until 1966, when the girls' school was again faced with a relocation dilemma due to the impending Northern Canal Development project, one of the many urban renewal efforts undertaken in the city during the 1960s. The impending urban renewal project served as the catalyst to combine the boy's and girl's high schools into a single co-educational facility, within the former Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys building. After the schools combined, the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa took over the direction of the entire high school, which continued its association with the Franco-American population of Lowell until 1975. In that year, it was determined that the Franco-American Catholic Church, and, more specifically, the church of Saint Jean-Baptiste, would no longer be able to financially support the school.
Thus, the school became known as Saint Joseph's Regional High School. It remained parochial, but was unaffiliated with a specific parish or cultural community. At the end of the 1980s, the school, as part of a directive from the Archdiocese of Boston, became part of the Lowell Catholic High School system. Established in 1989, the Greater Lowell Catholic High School was founded as a result of the closing of Keith Catholic High School and the merger of Saint Joseph's High School and Saint Louis Academy. The newly created high school included the amalgamation of five once independently run schools in Lowell including Saint Patrick High School, begun in 1831 as part of the Irish Catholic educational system; Keith Academy, established in 1926 and financed by the local theater magnet, B.F.
Keith; Keith Hall/Keith Catholic High School, the sister school of Keith Academy and funded by the same donor; Saint Louis Academy; and Saint Joseph's High School. The merger and creation of Lowell Catholic High School was employed over a three-year period, and the first years saw the high school operate from two campuses divided by the Merrimack River. These two branches were Saint Joseph's High School on Merrimack Street, and Saint Louis Hall on Boisvert Street. During this period, the Keith Hall/Keith Catholic building underwent major renovations. In 1991, the new Lowell Catholic High School completed the final phase of the merger, combining the two branches into one by moving into the newly renovated Keith Hall/Keith Catholic building.
Originally built as an orphanage in 1912, the school, now known as Lowell Catholic High School, had a physical capacity of 300 students within a single building. Today, the Lowell Catholic High School consists of a three building campus; the Keith Gymnasium, the McNamara Academic Building, and the Main Building. The new campus can now accommodate over 400 students, and is the only Catholic high school in the city of Lowell. It will celebrate its 20" anniversary in 2009. The Saint Joseph's High School building, formerly known as Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys, at 760 Merrimack Street was closed in the 1990s and was briefly utilized by Catholic Charities as a local food pantry.
The building was sold in 2007 to the Coalition for a Better Acre, a non-profit community development corporation that plans to convert the building into 22 units of affordable housing utilizing state and federal historic tax credits and low-income tax credits. As part of the rehabilitation, the adjoining, noncontributing loading dock structure is to be removed. (end) NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA Section number 9 Bibliographical References Page 1 Albert, Felix. Immigrant Odyssey: A French-Canadian Habitant in New England. translated by Arthur L. Eno, Jr. University of Maine Press. Orono, ME. 1991. Carriere, Gaston OMI.
The Man Lowell Remembered: Andre-Marie Garin OMI 1822-1895. ed. Lucien A. Sawyer, OMI. Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. 1998. Ctp:/ecommw. Th. Fraedu/Aameriloans limalsheol ssuseroys. aint Joseph igh School for Boy. 23 Oclober 2008. < DeLuca, Kelly. Saint Joseph the Worker Shrine. 23 October 2008.<http://www.stjosephshrine.org/> Division of Publications, National Park Service. Lowell: The Story of an Industrial City. A Guide to Lowell National Historical Park and Lowell Heritage State Park Lowell, Massachusetts. U.S. Department of the Interior. Washington, D.C.1992. Jublin, Thomas. Women at Work: The Transformation of Work and Community in Lowell, Massachusetts, 1826-186( Columbia University Press. New York. 1979 Robert Weible. The Continuing Revolution: A History of Lowell, Massachusetts. Lowell Historical Society. Lowell, MA. Gall, Lawrence D.
"The Heritage Factor in Lowell's Revitalization". by Robert Weible. The Continuing Revolution: A History of Lowell, Massachusetts. Lowell Historical Society. Lowell, MA. 1991. Lowell Catholic High School. 23 October 2008. <http://www.lowellcatholic.org/s/400/index.aspx> Massachusetts Historical Commission files: National Register Nomination for Saint Joseph's Convent and School, Christine Beard, 2002; Inventory forms for Patrick W. Ford House (Bos.10087) Saint Joseph's High School, Harriet White, 1980, Saint Jean-Baptiste/Nuestra Senora del Carmen Parish Complex, Pauline Chase-Harrell and John P. McCarthy, 2005; MACRIS search for Romanesque Revival style architecture of Lowell, MA. MACRIS search for architect Patrick W. Ford. McKean, David Duncan. From Erin to the Acre: A Photo History of Lowell's Early Irish. St. Patrick Parish Irish Cultural Committee. Lowell, MA.
1998 O'Toole, James M. The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA. 2008. "Our History: History of the Academy of Notre Dame". Academy of Notre Dame. <http://www.ndatyngsboro.org/page.cfm?p=13?> (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA Section number 9 Page 2 "Our Story: 175 Years of Service". St. Patrick Parish, Lowell, MA. <http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:P0Ojo0RwkskJ:www.stpatricklowell.org/bulletin/ourstory.doc+St.+Patrick%27s+S chool+for+Boys,+lowell&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a> Amaniors, M. The Lowell Experiment: Public Hisory in a Postindustrial Cily.
University of Massachusets Press:. Walsh, Timothy. Parish School: American Catholic Parochial Education From Colonial Times to Present. The Crossroad Publishing Company. New York, NY. 1996. (end) Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Name of Property Middlesex, MA. County, State 10. Geographical Data Acreage of Property less than 1 acre UTM References See continuation sheet. (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) 1.19 309732.119 4724451.545 Zone Easting Northing 2. 4. Zone Easting Northing 3. Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting x See continuation sheet Northing Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) See Continuation Sheets Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.) See Continuation Sheets 11.
Form Prepared By name/title organization Kate Myer and Maureen Cavanaugh, Epsilon Assocs., with Betsy Friedberg, NR Director, MHC Massachusetts Historical Commission _ date _December 2009 street & number 220 Morrissey Boulevard telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town. Boston state MA zip code. 02125 Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form: Continuation Sheets A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property. Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items) Property Owner (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) name Coalition for a Better Acre street & number.
517 Moody Street _ telephone (978) 452-7523 city or town Lowell state_MA _ zip code. 01854 aperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominat roperties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0.
Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503. NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA Section number 10 Page 1 Geographical Data Verbal Boundary Description The boundary of the former Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys at 760 Merrimack Street is that delineated on the City of Lowell's Assessor Map # 137.
The loading dock between 760 Merrimack Street and the adjacent building appears to straddle the property line, but is part of the present nomination Verbal Boundary Justification The boundary includes the entire lot historically associated with the Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys. The property was originally purchased by the Archdiocese of Boston, at Father Andre-Marie Garin's request, to construct the Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys. (end) NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug.
2002) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Photos Page Photographs MA_Lowell(Middlesex County)_Saint Joseph's College1.tif - Name: Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys* - Location: 760 Merrimack Street, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts* - Photographer: Brian Graves, Epsilon Associates* - Date: September 2009* - Location of Negative: Original Digital Image at Epsilon Associates, Maynard, MA* - Description of View: View southwest of north (primary) and east elevations MA_Lowell(Middlesex County)_Saint Joseph's College2.tif - Description of View: View northeast of south elevation MA_Lowell(Middlesex County)_ Saint Joseph's College3.tif - Description of View: Interior, view of main stairway to third floor MA_Lowell(Middlesex County)_Saint Joseph's College4.tif - Description of View: Interior, view of former classroom *Applies to all photographs OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Page Sketch Map OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA MERRIMACK STREET AIKENST. ST. JOSEPr'S DECATUR ST. NPS Form 1 10-900-b (Rev. Aug. 2002) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Page OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys Lowell (Middlesex), MA Typical Floor Plan DECATOR AVE DECATUR STREET * - 3,526 .r - No. 180 *SFi5e.
MERRIC ACHSTRT FOR REGISTRY USE ONLY ICEVED ANTI ENTERIG DOLEEE-(HL"- RICIETRY OF DEE N0:x.2021.5 Now 12,99 "ALOptim) 000 NN 200000/27 ENDORSEMENT OF THIS PLAN DOES NOT INDICATE CMPLIANCE HE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF LOWELL. APPROVAL UNDER THE SUBDIVISION CONTROL LAW NOT REQUIRED LOWELL PLANNING BOARO 1/2/29 c 'STCR ,Hes. LOT 1A ROENSOM SAOEETE SUE ORLE CONNONCREH OF VASACHUSETES. Cgdo B LEant & PLS Oz. 19,1996 ~T7hroe CWAER ARCHRISHROFBOSTON ROMAN CATHOLIC TTLE PEF: BER: %S. P6.289 SUBDIVISION PLAN OF LAND LOCATED IN LOWELL, MASS.
(MIDDLESEX COUNTY) PREPARED BY: (617)396-4466 FAX#: 396-8052 G.L0PS\12158.0W0|DATE: OCTOBER 29, 1996 CHECK FILE NO 12159 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys NAME: MULTIPLE NAME: STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Middlesex DATE RECEIVED: 1/15/10 DATE OF 16TH DAY: 2/18/10 DATE OF PENDING LIST: 2/03/10 DATE OF 45TH DAY: 3/01/10 DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: REFERENCE NUMBER: 10000041 REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: N OTHER: PERIOD: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: REQUEST: N N SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: COMMENT WAIVER: N KACCEPT RETURN REJECT 2.24.10DATE ABSTRACT/ SUMMARY COMMENTS: Entered in The Natlonal Roglster Historic Places RECOM./CRITERIA REVIEWER DISCIPLINE TELEPHONE DATE DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N If a nomination is returned to the nominating authority, nomination is no longer under consideration by the NPS.
X| |I| MA_Lowell (Midlesex County)_ St Joseph1.tif HP Premi Premium HP Premium HP Premium Plus MA_Lawell (Middlesex (ounty)_St Joseph 3.tif HP HP Premium Plus 1 Plus HP Premium Plus HP Premium Plus The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission December 30, 2009 Mr. J. Paul Loether, Chief National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service 1201 Eye Street, NW 8t floor Washington, DC 20005 RECEIVED 2280 Dear Mr. Loether: JAN 15 2010 MNAT. REAHOMA PARK SEAVCELACES Enclosed please find the following nomination form: Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys, 760 Merrimack Street, Lowell (Middlesex), MA The nomination has been voted eligible by the State Review Board and has been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer.
The owners of the property in the Certified Local Government community of Lowell were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 60 to 90 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. Sincerely, Betsy Fuedheig Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission Enclosure cc: Stephen Stowell, Lowell CLG Coordinator Jeff Fugate, Coalition for a Better Acre Edward Caulfield, Mayor, City of Lowell Adam Baacke, Lowell Planning and Development Maureen Cavanaugh, Kate Myer, Epsilon Associates 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125 (617) 727-8470 - Fax: (617) 727-5128 www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc
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