NOMINATION OF HISTORIC BUILDING, STRUCTURE, SITE, OR OBJECT PHILADELPHIA REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

PHILADELPHIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION SUBMIT ALL ATTACHED MATERIALS ON PAPER AND IN ELECTRONIC FORM ON CD (MS WORD FORMAT)

1. ADDRESS OF HISTORIC RESOURCE (must comply with an Office of Property Assessment address)

Street address: 176 Conarroe Street BRT/OPA Acct. No. 775119000

Postal code: 19127-1327 Councilmanic District: 4

2. NAME OF HISTORIC RESOURCE

Historic Name: Die Himmelfahrt der Heiligen Jungfrau Maria-Kirche, Myk. Pa.

Common Name: St. Mary-of-the-Assumption (German) R. C. Church, Myk. Pa.

3. TYPE OF HISTORIC RESOURCE

X Building Structure Site Object

4. PROPERTY INFORMATION

Condition: X excellent good fair poor ruins

Occupancy: occupied X vacant under construction unknown

Current use: None.

5. BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION

Please attach a plot plan and written description of the boundary. SEE ATTACHED SHEET.

6. DESCRIPTION SEE ATTACHED SHEET.

Please attach a description of the historic resource and supplement with current photographs.

7. SIGNIFICANCE

Please attach the Statement of Significance. [See Attached Sheet]

Period of Significance (from year to year): from 1849 to 2012

Date(s) of construction and/or alteration: 1849

Architect, engineer, and/or designer: German Immigrant Stonemasons.

Builder, contractor, and/or artisan: [unknown]

Original owner: R. C. Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pa.

Other significant persons: None.

CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION:

The historic resource satisfies the following criteria for designation (check all that apply): X (a) Has significant character, interest or value as part of the development, heritage or cultural

characteristics of the City, Commonwealth or Nation or is associated with the life of a person significant in the past; or,

(b) Is associated with an event of importance to the history of the City, Commonwealth or Nation; or

X (c) Reflects the environment in an era characterized by a distinctive architectural style; or, X (d) Embodies distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style or engineering specimen; or, (e) Is the work of a designer, architect, landscape architect or designer, or engineer whose work

has significantly influenced the historical, architectural, economic, social, or cultural development of the City, Commonwealth or Nation; or,

(f) Contains elements of design, detail, materials or craftsmanship which represent a significant innovation; or,

(g) Is part of or related to a square, park or other distinctive area which should be preserved according to an historic, cultural or architectural motif; or,

(h) Owing to its unique location or singular physical characteristic, represents an established and familiar visual feature of the neighborhood, community or City; or,

(i) Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in pre-history or history; or X (j) Exemplifies the cultural, political, economic, social or historical heritage of the community.

8. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

Please attach a bibliography. SEE ATTACHED SHEET.

9. NOMINATOR

Name with Title John Charles Manton Email jcmanton@verizon.net

Organization Research-Historian / 21st Ward. Date 6 April 2016.

Street Address Telephone (215) 482-6047

City, State, and Postal Code: Philadelphia, PA 19128-1108

Nominator are X is not the property owner.

PHC USE ONLY

Date of Receipt:_6 April 2016_____________________________________________________________

Correct-Complete Incorrect-Incomplete Date:_________________________________

Date of Notice Issuance:_________________________________________________________________

Property Owner at Time of Notice

Name:_________________________________________________________________________

Address:_______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

City:_______________________________________ State:____ Postal Code:_________

Date(s) Reviewed by the Committee on Historic Designation:____________________________________

Date(s) Reviewed by the Historical Commission:______________________________________________

Date of Final Action:____________________________________________________________________

Designated Rejected 4/11/13

5. BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION:

Proposed boundary for the designation. Courtesy of the Philadelphia Water Department.

ALL THOSE CERTAIN four contiguous tracts or pieces of land with the buildings and improvements

thereon erected and a Burial Ground, SITUATE at MANAYUNK, within the TWENTY-FIRST WARD of

the City of Philadelphia, more particularly identified by the BRT/OPA Account Number: 775119000,

containing a combined total measurement of 13,426 square feet, as measured by the Philadelphia Water

Department —

KNOWN AND TAXED AS: 176 CONARROE STREET, CONSISTING OF AND BEING THE

FOLLOWING SEVERAL PARCELS:

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Map 92-N-10 / Lot #141

176 CONARROE ST — Perimeter of 235 ft and an area of 1,948 ft2

Map 92-N-10 / Lot #142

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174 CONARROE ST — Perimeter of 237 ft and an area of 1,910 ft2

Map 92-N-10 / Lot #143

172 CONARROE ST — Perimeter of 365 ft and an area of 8,182 ft

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Map 92-N-10 / Lot #140

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THE FOUR COMBINED CONARROE STREET PARCELS 1 | BRT/OPA: 775119000

Above Measurements: Courtesy of Parcel | Explorer. <http://citymaps.phila.gov/ParcelExplorer>.

Segment 1 = 136.3 ft., Segment 2 = 93.6 ft., Segment 3 = 133.8 ft., Segment 4 = 105.7 ft.

Total length = 469.4 ft., and Area of 13,425.5 ft2. Segments are accurate, as the footage

and area are nearly identical with those measured by the City of Philadelphia Water

Department on page ONE of this document.2

1 On the 2

nd Feb. 1846, Jacob Levering sold several tracts of land consisting of multiple lots within a plan,

situate in the Village of Manayunk in the Township of Roxborough, registered in Philadelphia Deed Book

AWM Vol.21, page 155 and Deed Book AWM Vol.24, page 37, to Richard Moffit. On the 4th

of December

1848, Richard Moffit sold many of the same lots (then called Oak street) to Joseph McMullen. See:

Philadelphia Deed Book GWC Vol.8 pages 1 - 10. Joseph McMullen then sold the Rt. Rev. Francis P.

Kenrick, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Philadelphia, four lots which are the subject of this nomination.

These lots have never been formerly or legally combined by any instrument of law, such as a deed of

conveyance since the day on which they were first purchased, also they may never have been never been

surveyed. See attached Deed Abstract on page 37.

2 [Note: The four parcels are measured individually by DOR Parcel | Explorer totaling 13,696 square feet –

contains an excess and difference of 270 square feet when compared to the Philadelphia Water

Department’s calulation of the four combined parcels, Taxed as One, equaling 13, 426 square feet. This

discrepancy is not any error by the nominator, but it may be an error of the City of Philadelphia or it’s

computer software, or there may be unaccounted and untaxed land within these parcels].

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6. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS – (Architectural):

The Church:

It must be understood that this is Lot No. 140 of Map No. 92-N-10:

he South façade: is three bays in width and rises to a height of two stories. The

fabric is of uncoursed Wissahickon Schist-Ashlar. Central to this façade is a

pilaster-tower surmounted with a hipped-roof spire and crowned with a copper or

bronze cross. This tower separates a front-gable. The eves of the tower have brackets. A

louvered belfry has a limestone belt-course just beneath it. Below the belt-course is a

circular opening trimmed with limestone, possibly used at one time for a clock

encasement. Beneath this encasement is another louvered opening having a lintel in the

form of an abbreviated Ogee arch. Next below this is a marble date-stone given the name

of the church and its date of erection engraved in German. Below this date-stone is

another limestone belt-course. A bay of leaded-glass and topped with an abbreviated

Ogee arch is below the date-stone and aforementioned limestone belt-course, beneath

which is a final limestone belt-course. The lintels of each of the three doors are topped

with limestone abbreviated Ogee arches. The steps to these doors are of gray marble. A

wheelchair ramp to the smaller door on the right was added during the mid to late

Twentieth century. [SEE: Figures 15 & 16 on pp. 28 & 29]

Figure 1 – From the South. Figure 2 – South façade – main entrance.

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he West Façade: is six bays in width and rises to a height of two stories. Its fabric is of un-coursed Wissahickon Schist-Ashlar. The sills of each bay are of gray marble and their lintels are abbreviated Ogee arches, above which is a

limestone belt-course that runs the entire width of the Western façade. There are six cellar bays, two of which have been converted into entrances to the cellar. The North and South corners of the Western façade have straight Quoins. There are pilasters inserted between each bay only rising to the aforementioned limestone belt-course. The eve of the roof is trimmed in red brick of a patterned design.

Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 3 -- The West façade viewed from the Southwest.

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he North Façade: presents no bays and rises to a height of two stories. Its façade

is stucco presumably over rough fieldstone and painted with white paint. An A-

frame roof surmounts the whole. No bays where ever made because this façade of

the church lined a narrow alley with the Liebert-Obert Brewery (now an open parking

lot). An 1881 building permit reports an extension of this façade by 28 feet. [SEE: FN #5,

p. 12]

Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, c2016.

Figure 4 -- The unadorned and plain North facade.

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he East Façade: is essentially identical to that of the West in all respects to

detail. Unfortunately, it is also greatly obscured by evergreen foliage such as

large rhododendron bushes and holly trees which offer no season of defoliation for

photographic access. It is a façade of five bays in width and two stories in height having

the rectory’s western wall adjoining the South-eastern corner of the church. Each of the

five bays has a gray marble sill and an abbreviated Ogee arches of white marble.

Between each of these bays is a pilaster topped with a white marble crown above which

is a stone belt course running the full length of the East façade. Ornamental red

brickwork skirts the eve of the roof. Five cellar bays are beneath the aforementioned

main bays.

Figure 5 -- The obscured East facade with a portion of the rear of the rectory at left.

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The Rectory.

Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, c2016.

Figure 6 -- South facade of the rectory.

It must be understood that this section concerns Lot Nos. 141, 142, & 143 of Map No.

92-N-10:

he South Façade: of the rectory is the only façade visible. [SEE figure 6 above.]

Both its eastern and western walls are actually party walls to both the church and a

private residence. The South façade is seven bays wide and rises to a height of

two and one-half stories. Its façade is of course red brick with and estimated construction

date of about 1871. All bays have been replaced with windows of the mid to late 20th

century. First and second story bays have lintels and sills of gray marble and are of one-

over-one. The main entrance has a leaded stained glass transom. The original double

doors have been replaced with a 20th

century steel door with matching sidelight. [SEE:

Figure 7] A second floor poly sided projecting bay of wood encased in painted tin.

There is a projecting eve with a corbelled bargeboard. Six gabled dormers protrude from

a Mansard rood with 20th

century a variegated fish-scale replacement shingles topped

with a crown moulding along the edge of the upper roof.

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Figure 7 -- Two additional views of the rectory’s South facade.

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7. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE:

he former St. Mary of the Assumption [German] Roman Catholic Church and its

rectory at 176 Conarroe Street is a significant historic resource that merits

designation by the Philadelphia Historical Commission and inclusion on the

Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. Located in Manayunk, set within a particularly

old world streetscape, the buildings that comprise the former Catholic church satisfy

Criteria for Designation a, c, d, and J as enumerated in Section 14-1004 of the

Philadelphia Code. The buildings and burial ground at 176 Conarroe Street:

(a) Have significant character, interest or value as part of the development,

heritage, or cultural characteristics of the city, commonwealth, or nation ….

(c) Reflect the environment in an era characterized by a distinctive architectural

style;

(d) Embody distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style or engineering

specimen; and,

(j) Exemplify the cultural, political, economic, social or historical heritage of the

community.

The Rectory of St. Mary of the Assumption satisfies Criteria for Designation a and j as

enumerated in Section 14-1004 of the Philadelphia Code, which are named above and do

not need to be repeated.

Historical Overview:

he German-speaking Catholics in Manayunk had increased to such numbers that

in 1849 the work of organising a German parish was begun. Previous to this time

the two score families of German-speaking Catholics, whilst they heard Mass at

St. John the Baptist, were counted as members of Holy Trinity parish at 6th & Spruce

Streets. In 1843 an arrangement was made by which one of the Redemptorists at St.

Peter’s went once a month to hear confessions and to preach in the German language.

The German Catholics of Manayunk petitioned Bishop Kenrick in 1849 to form a parish.

When Bishop Kenrick arranged for the formation of a parish for the German-speaking

Catholics, the necessary funds were secured, and ground on Oak (now Conarroe) Street

was purchased in the Spring of 1849. A cornerstone was laid in June 1849on the Feast of

the Holy Trinity. In the announcement of this event, the Catholic Herald reported, “as

the congregation is poor, they rely much on the generosity of their fellow Catholics for

the success of their undertaking.”3 The church was consecrated on 6 January 1850. On

3 Catholic Herald. Philadelphia : Catholic Church, 31 March 1849, p. 1.

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the Feast of the Epiphany. The first pastor was the Rev. Fr. S. R. Etthoffer, who after one

year was succeeded by the Rev. Fr. A. Shippert, D. D. 4

In 1854, the Reverend Fr. Francis X. Marshall was appointed the third resident

pastor, although the church for almost a year had been attended by the Reverend Fr.

Grundtner, who remained pastor four years, and in 1860, the Rev. Dr. Nicola was

transferred from St. Alphonsus’s Church. Although pastor only two years, his reputation

as an orator and scholar remained amongst the parishioners in fond remembrance for

several years thereafter. After Fr. Nicola’s death in 1862, the Rev. Fr. Rudolph Kuenzer,

took over the parish. A school was built opposite the church in 1867. In 1871 Father

Kuenzer was appointed to Holy Trinity Church, and was succeeded by the Rev. Fr. F. J.

Martersteck, whose pastorate was marked not only by his pious zeal, but by the splendid

manner in which he administered the temporalities of the church, consisting of two new

sacristies, and a new sanctuary, with three marble altars, and entire new church furniture.5

The cost of these improvements being paid by one of the parishioners, Sebastian Anthony

Rudolph, the German born owner of the Ashland Paper Mills. Father Martersteck made

other improvements enlarging the pastoral residence and the parish convent, and in 1872

built an addition to the school, so as to double its capacity. He celebrated the Silver

Jubilee of his ordination in June 1893, and died 2 July 1901, when the Rev. Fr. Henry A.

Gantert, who had been stationed at St. Alphonsus’s, was appointed.6

A gradual decline in use of the German language for Stations of the Cross,

Confession, and homilies, was a direct result of the German enclave being assimilated

into an English-speaking world to which their ancestors had immigrated. With the

unprecedented change from Latin to the local vernacular language in the liturgy of the

Mass after Vatican II reforms of 1962, the language chosen was not German, but English.

German surnames from the original founders continued in parish records up until the

church’s closure in 2012. In that year the Archdiocese of Philadelphia decided to merge

this ethnic parish with the nearby parish of Saint John-the-Baptist. Proffering a shortage

of priests, declining church membership, and the financial impossibility of maintaining

five Catholic churches all within a block or two of each other, led to the church’s closure

in June of 2012, after an occupation spanning 163 years. All that remains of Manayunk’s

German enclave are local German surnames and the church building, the oldest found to

be surviving in Roxborough-Manayunk, now known as the Twenty-first Ward of

Philadelphia.

Criteria A and J

aint Mary-of-the-Assumption Roman Catholic Church has significant character,

interest and value as part of the heritage and cultural characteristics of the City of

Philadelphia, as related to the immigration and settlement of German Catholics

4 Kirlin, Joseph L. J.: Catholicity in Philadelphia : from the earliest missionaries down to

the present time. Philadelphia : John Jos. McVey, 1909. p. 347. 5 The building permit for the 1881 alterations report that an addition 28 by 49 feet (described as a “chancel”) made to the church. (American Architect and Building News, May 7, 1881). 6 Kirlin, pp. 456-457.

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within the larger context of Philadelphia. Built by a specific community of German

Catholics, St, Mary of the Assumption was part of the early development of immigrant

parishes in a manufacturing neighbourhood in Philadelphia. Its early church building and

its larger complex of buildings represents the heritage and cultural characteristics of

German Catholics as the third oldest such congregation in the city.

The first national or “ethnic” parish in America was Holy Trinity Roman Catholic

Church, located near the juncture of 6th

& Spruce Streets. Serving the large German-

speaking Catholic population of Philadelphia, the building dates to the late 18th

Century.

The second German Catholic parish in Philadelphia was St. Peter the Apostle Church,

known today as the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann, located at 1019 N. 5th

Street

at Girard Avenue. This building dates to 1847.7 St. Mary of the Assumption dates to

1849 and is the third German Catholic parish in Philadelphia.

By the turn of the 20th

Century, the city had eleven German Catholic parishes.

These “pure-German Catholic parishes” embraced an estimated total of 23,395 men,

women, and children.8

In contrast, the Philadelphia German Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran

Ministerium of Pennsylvania had a communing membership that totalled 6,429. German

Catholics outnumbered German Lutherans, despite the fact that the Germans were

outnumbered within the Catholic Church. German Catholics made up 17% of the city’s

Catholic population. The city had seventy-three Catholic parishes in 1900 and most were

Irish. Essentially, national churches served their associated neighbourhood. The locality

of St. Mary of the Assumption serviced as an enclave for German Catholics.

German Catholics not only founded St. Peter the Apostle Church and St. Mary of

the Assumption in the mid-19th

Century, but eight other parishes would emerge by 1900.

German Catholics were also instrumental in founding St. Vincent’s Orphans’ Asylum in

1855 and St. Mary’s Hospital in the 1860s. German Catholic mutual aid societies were

under the larger Volkverein, organised in 1876 as a unit of a national federation of such

associations, the German Roman Catholic Central-Verein of North America.9

Criterion “J”

aint Mary-of-the-Assumption was the focal point or centre of a German-immigrant

enclave that existed for well over a century in Manayunk. The extant complex of

buildings, including the Church, itself, and the attached rectory and burial ground,

exemplify the cultural, economic, social and historical heritage of the German Catholic

community of Manayunk.

German Catholics were attracted to Manayunk by its many mills as the Industrial

Revolution progressed in the 19th

Century. Three aspects of this revolution involved the

Manayunk Canal, the Pennsylvania and Reading Railroad lines, and particularly the

mills, most of which produced textiles for local and national markets.

7 Connelly, James F., The History of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Philadelphia : The Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 1976. P. 131. 8 Kazel, Russell A.: Becoming Old Stock: The Paradox of German-American Identity, Princeton (NJ) : Princeton Univeristy Press, 2004, pp. 34-37. 9 Kazel, p. 206-210.

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A by-product of the Industrial Revolution was housing for workers, and churches

and schools for the religious and educational purposes. Each group of European

immigrants to arrive in Manayunk organised their own ethnic churches and schools, i.e.

the Irish in 1830, the Germans in 1849, the Poles in 1898, and the Italians in 1906. By

the turn of the 20th

century, Manayunk was a town of ethnic communities that were all

unified by employment in the mills and the authority of the Roman Catholic Church in

Philadelphia. Each group had a very distinctive culture brought here from the Old World

and each kept their respective language, customs, religious practices and heritage alive

for several generations after their arrival.

The church building served as the house of worship for the German Catholics. Its

attached rectory provided the housing required for the German-speaking priests, who

served the parish. These two buildings and the adjoining burial ground are critical

components required for the religious life of German Catholics in Manayunk.

Criteria C and D

he vernacular stone church at 176 Conarroe Street exemplifies the stylistic

adaptation of an old Germanic religious architectural form by the German-

Catholic immigrant population in Philadelphia in the mid-nineteenth century. The

following features and adapted forms embody distinguishing characteristics of Germanic

religious architecture:

German and other middle European churches used this form—the typical modest

preaching box with a squat tower piercing its front gable. The height, scale, and,

primarily, the depth of the tower is a common Germanic form, and the articulation of the

spire atop the tower is also derivative of mediaeval European forms that are seen in

German church edifices. Another feature typified by German congregations is the first

and second floor building type, with a Sunday school at the basement or lower-story and

the sanctuary above.

Several examples of period and earlier church edifices exist in Germany today

with various features of the subject building. Almost all of the following examples show

a gable front box or rectangular interrupted by a tower of various forms and sizes. The

rectangular shape of the subject tower is rather unusual in that its depth is purposeful and

perhaps not noticeable until seen from an angle.

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Church of St. George’s, Bad Gandersheim, Northeim, Lower Saxony, in Germany. Courtesy Wikipedia.

hilst it is possible that the subject tower is simply shallow in depth because its

relationship to the street, it is more likely a form that derived from the

Germanic roots of designer and/or the congregation at the time the church was

built. The hipped roof forming a steeple in a squat fashion is also seen in many German

churches, transcending much of its architectural timeline. One example of tower form

can be seen in the Church of St. Georg, pictured above. Whilst this tower is larger in

scale, it shares a remarkably similar form.

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St. Georg’s Kirche, Kirchweyhe. Courtesy Wikipedia.

ther examples show additional similarities, including St. Georg’s Kirche, shown

above. In many ways, the scale of this tower and the execution of the roof and

spire bare a striking resemblance to the subject building. The brickwork of the

corbelling in various places is also similar to the subject building, despite the fact that the

tower itself is wooden rather than brick. The same is true of St. Christophperus Kirche,

Bodenfelde and Evangelical Kirche, Friedland-Deiderode von Suden, shown on page 17.

Both of these buildings have similar towers and roof types with minor variations from the

subject building. However, they are important examples to references, as they too served

smaller congregations.

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Left: St. Christophperus Kirche, Bodenfelde. Right: Evangelical Kirche, Friedland-Deiderode von Suden. Courtesy

Wikipedia.

Left: the old frame church in Kedingbruch. Right: St. Georg’s Kirche, Warberg. Courtesy Wikipedia.

Note that the tower on the lower left is separate from the church building, but employs a

similar roof type and steeple configuration. The tower on right employs the same form as

the subject building with a larger tower projecting from the front.

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Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lippoldshausen, Stadt Hann. Munden, Sundniedersachsen. The

ancient building shares qualities in form with the subject building and is also made of stone.

pon further inspection, the above-described Germanic form and its features

become explicative of the period and location of construction, reflecting the

environment in an era characterized by distinctive architectural styles, as well as

the use of local materials. Distinctively stylistic elements include the Neo-Classical,

Georgian and the Gothic Revivals, but with the dramatic, yet typical overwhelming

quality of Philadelphia materials. The windows at the south and north elevations are set

within rows of pilasters feature Tuscan capitols. Various influences of the Gothic Revival

are also present in the building. Its windows in the north and south elevations feature

lintels that are formed by brick almost in the form of gauged arches, the joints forming

the common center. At the east, primary elevation, the arches are pointed and the lintels

not being quite a true lancet arch. The tower, while Germanic in form and scale, features

Georgian Revival features such as its bull’s eye window and the coursing at various

stages. Its doorway and other windows are also Gothic Revival. The building is

constructed almost entirely of Wissahickon Schist, which is due to its location in

Manayunk.

In itself, then, the church encapsulates these various features that are distinct of an

era and locality. The form speaks to its German Catholic people, being culturally

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distinctive of German Architecture in America, whilst its various stylistic overtones are

born of the period fashions.

The Churchyard.

On the West side of the church is a churchyard, the smallest burial ground still existing in

Manayunk. An iron fence encloses it and many of the gravestones within, have been laid

flat. It also contains an underground vault containing the remains of several priests that

served the parish in the course of its long history. A large white marble cross marks the

location of the aforementioned vault. Because this burial ground is a part of the same

parcel on which both church and rectory have been built, it is considered germane to this

nomination and bears the same historical significance to the whole.

8 BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Deeds:

GWC:3;362 (1849) Joseph McMullen TO Francis P. Kenrick.

RLL:44;340 (1849) Joseph McMullen TO Francis P. Kenrick.

GWC:54;258 (1850) Joseph McMullen TO Francis P. Kenrick.

District Court – Sheriff Book J-2.

Published Works:

American Architect and Building News (May 7, 1881).

Baccella, Bernard: A History of St. Mary-of-the-Assumption in Manayunk, 1849-2005.

[Philadelphia : St. Mary-of-the-Assumption Parish, 2005]

Bromley, George W.: Atlas of the City of Philadelphia, Volume 12, 21st Ward.

Philadelphia : G. W. & W. S. Bromley, 1892.

Catholic Herald (March 31, 1949) & (June 16, 1849)

Connelly, James F.: The History of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Philadelphia : The Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 1976.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY – Continued:

Historical Sketches of the Catholic Churches and Institutions in Philadelphia : a Parish

Register and Book of reference. Philadelphia : Daniel H. Mahony, [c1895].

Hopkins, G. M.: Atlas of the City of Philadelphia, 21st & 28

th Wards. Philadelphia : G.

M. Hopkins, 1884.

Insurance Maps of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Vol. 20. Philadelphia : Sanborn Map

Company, 1923 & 1950.

Kazel, Russell A.: Becoming Old Stock: The Paradox of German-American Identity. Princeton (NJ) : Princeton University Press, c2004.

Kirlin, Joseph L. J.: Catholicity in Philadelphia : from the earliest missionaries down to

the present time. Philadelphia : John Jos. McVey, 1909.

Manton, John Charles: Bygones: a Guide to Historic Roxborough-Manayunk.

Philadelphia : J. C. Manton, Historical Research, 1990.

McElroy’s Philadelphia Directory, 1856.

Miles, Joseph Starne & Cooper, William H.: A Historical Sketch of Roxborough,

Manayunk, Wissahickon. [Philadelphia : George Fein & Co., 1940]

Philadelphia Water Department: Stormwater Map, 2016.

Public Ledger (June 1, 1849)

Smith, Elvino V.: Atlas of the City of Philadelphia, 21st Ward. Philadelphia : Elvino V.

Smith, 1911.

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Photo Gallery:

Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 8 -- The church viewed from the Southwest.

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Photo courtesy of David Harris, 2016.

Figure 9 -- The cornerstone is set so high up on the tower’s façade that only a bird

can view it. [SEE figure 15]. This image, possibly taken from a third floor school

window directly across the street, is inscribed in German: “Deutsche romisch

katholileshe Kirche, gegründet im Jahre 1849 – German Roman Catholic Church

Established in the Year 1849.” The inscription is almost illegible due to acid rain

caused by nearby trains using fossil fuel during the 19th

century.

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Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 10 -- Looking East on Conarroe Street with the church on the left and school

at right. Conarroe is a typically narrow Manayunk street with an incline that is a

notable feature throughout this mill town.

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Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 11 -- The Southern facade viewed from the Southeast. St. Mary's rectory is

seen here in part at the right. Its Western wall was erected flush with the Eastern

facade of the church.

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Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 12 -- The Western facade [viewed in part] from the Southwest. Along this side of the church

are several graves of former priests and prominent parishioners presently being disinterred in

preparation for an impending sale of the property.

26

Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 13 -- Another view of the graveyard from the Northwest showing the parish

school of 1867 on the right.

27

Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 14 -- A detail of the Western-most door of three on the South facade.

28

Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 15 -- Detailed close-up shot of the tower on the South facade. A marble stone

containing the name and erection date of the church in German, is seen here just

beneath the third opening down from the eve of the roof.

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Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 16 -- Another close-up detail view of the Southern facade with its prominent

tower.

30

Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 17 -- View of the Eastern-most door of three on the South facade. A

wheelchair ramp was added sometime during the late 20th century.

31

Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 18 -- View of the central and primary entrance to the church on the South

facade. It has long been an architectural tradition to have three main doors on any

given Catholic church, no matter how large or small the building is. The original

steps are of gray marble.

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Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 19 -- The Northern facade viewed from the Northeast. In an effort to cut

building costs, many Philadelphia buildings have stone or brick facades when

viewed from the street, with the less prominent façade being covered in stucco or

plaster and then painted over.

33

Photo courtesy of an anonymous parishioner, 2012.

Figure 20 -- This is a view of the interior of the church during a Mass. All of the

Stations of the Cross that line the walls of the nave are oil paintings on canvas of an

event in the final days of the life of Christ on earth. They are very unusual because

most series of Stations of the Cross are either of carved white marble or wood. Each

painting is worth at least $1,000 on the antique art market today. The various

frescoes are all original, being done during the extension of the sanctuary twenty-

eight feet in 1881.

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THE RECTORY:

Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 21 -- The Southern facade of the rectory is the only clear view of the house.

With its Eastern and Western facades being erected flush with the walls of either the

church or another adjoining house. These facades are featureless with no

description required.

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Photo courtesy of Oscar Beisert, 2016.

Figure 22 -- This is a rear view of the rectory and part of the Eastern facade of the

church obscured by a large holly tree and other foliage. Viewed from the Northeast.

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DEEDS:

1849 Deed AWM:86;528 – Philadelphia City Archives.

Figure 23 -- This is a section of the first page of the church's 1849 Deed, copied by a

city clerk into a large Deed Book from the original vellum document.

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38

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MAPS:

S. L. Smedley, 1862 – Section #22.

Figure 24 -- Samuel L. Smedley's map of 1863 fails to depict the church building,

although the church had existed there for fourteen years. Saint John's Church is

depicted further south on this same map. It is at best, an error of omission.

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G. M. Hopkins, 1875 – Vol. 2, Plate “A.”

Figure 25 -- Hopkins’ 1875 map depicts the church and the 1867 schoolhouse, not

directly across the street, but were the convent now stands, leading to the belief that

the convent was the original schoolhouse and later converted into a convent.

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G. M. Hopkins, 1884, Plate #16.

Figure 26 -- This map of 1884, some nineteen years later, reveals that the location of

the church and schoolhouse have not changed.

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G. W. Bromley, 1892 – Plate #1

Figure 27 -- Bromley's map of 1892 shows the convent indicated, but the two

buildings directly across the street from the church are not yet owned by St. Mary's.

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E. V. Smith, 1911 – Plate #3.

Figure 28 -- Smith's map of 1911 clearly indicates the present dimensions of the

school building.

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Sanborn, 1923 – Sheet No. 508.

Figure 29 -- An interesting feature of this 1923 map is the small building behind the

convent marked “W. C.,” meaning “water closet” or toilet. It was either for the

exclusive use of the convent or more than likely, for the students of the school.

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Sanborn, 1950 – Sheet No. 521

Figure 30 -- Sanborn's map of 1950 reveals nothing that is not already indicated in

his map of 1923.

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Figure 31 -- This an aerial view with boundaries of the entire parish property

marked within a yellow line. Only the church and its adjacent rectory is the focus of

this nomination.

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MISSCELLANEOUS:

Figure 32 -- An application text taken from a Philadelphia Department of Licences

& Inspections document received from the authorities of the church to reuse the

former rectory as a boarding house for students of various local universities.

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Figure 33 -- The Notice of Refusal from the Philadelphia Department of Licences &

Inspections dated February 22, 2012.

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Document courtesy of the Philadelphia City Archives.

Figure 34 -- Father Nichola was St. Mary’s pastor at the beginning of the American

Civil War. He died in 1862 of Phthisis (Pulmonary Tuberculosis) and was

entombed in the priests’ vault on the West side of the church.

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Document courtesy of the Philadelphia City Archives.

Figure 35 -- Official Certificate of Death for the Reverend Fr. Christian F. Rudolph

(1856-1889) who died of Phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis) at age 33. His remains

were interred along the western wall of the church on 28th

February 1889, only to be

exhumed and translated 127 years later.

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Document courtesy of the Philadelphia City Archives.

Figure 36 -- Official Certificate of Death for the Reverend Fr. Francis J. Martersteck

(1844-1901) who died of Pneumonia at age 57. His remains were interred the

priests’ vault along the western wall of the church on 5th

July 1901, only to be

exhumed and translated 115 years later.

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From the Catholic Herald (June 16, 1849)

Figure 37 -- A newspaper report of an unfortunate accident that occurred during

the dedication ceremonies of the church in 1849.

Public Ledger (June 1, 1849), p. 1.

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McElroy’s Philadelphia Directory For 1856, p. 884.

Figure 38 -- The church was not listed in any city directory until 1856. It had also

changed its name several times in the course of its 163-year history, being known as

"Immaculate Conception of the B. V. M," "Assumption of the B. V. M.,” “Saint

Mary of the Assumption,” to name a few. The church’s non-listing prior to 1856

had much to do with the Act of Consolidation (1854) before which the outer

townships and boroughs of the county were not usually listed in city directories.

This doesn’t mean that the church did not exist however.

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Figure 39 -- A partial list of past rectors before 1927. “Pfarrer” is the German

equivalent of “Reverend.”