Southcoast Wonders: Destroyed, demolished or sold, 5 churches lost to Fall River history
FALL RIVER — When people think of Fall River in the 20th century, they tend to see smokestacks and spires along the skyline — a city where work and religion were predominant in people’s lives. But cities change their shape to suit the times, and Fall River has been no different.
A hundred years ago, the city once had a Catholic church in every neighborhood, built to suit the spiritual needs of every immigrant enclave, all worshipping the same God but with unique cultures centered around practices imported from the Old Country and Americanized. But as the population changed over the decades, neighborhoods became less homogenous, attendance dropped, parishes were consolidated, and their often enormous, expensive to maintain spiritual temples became impractical to keep going.
Previously in this series, The Herald News looked at five Catholic churches that have been lost to history. Here are five more Catholic structures, but not all have been destroyed — some have found reuse.
Saving history: Fall River OK'd the Community Preservation Act 10 years ago. Has it been worth the money?
St. Mathieu’s Church
Does it still exist? No.
Where was it? St. Mary’s and Wellington streets
What happened to it? The cornerstone for this French Canadian church was laid in 1893, in the Bowenville neighborhood just north of St. John’s Cemetery. With money pooled together from poor French Canadian immigrants, architect Louis G. Destremps — famed for his churches and public buildings throughout the area including Notre Dame de Lourdes and the former district courthouse — built a brick palace topped with twin 50-foot steeples that could be seen for miles. St. Mathieu's flourished through the early 20th century, serving thousands of families. But in the mid-1960s, much of the neighborhood was taken to build the Route 79 Western Expressway, leveling hundreds of homes and scattering families to other communities. With the parish community in decline, the church fell into disrepair. The steeples had to be shortened to 12 feet for safety reasons in the mid-1970s, but there was no money to make more substantial repairs. By 1989, the parish was dissolved and the church razed.
What’s there now? St. Mathieu’s former rectory and school still stand, and are apartment buildings. The rest of the property is used as a parking lot.
St. William’s Church
Does it still exist? No.
Where was it? Chicago Street near Maplewood Park
What happened to it? This Irish Catholic church spun off St. Patrick’s parish in 1905, led by the Rev. Patrick E. McGee. The Diocese of Fall River purchased a large plot of land on the corner of Stafford Road and Chicago Street, and that year, a cornerstone-laying ceremony was held for the new St. William’s Church and rectory. The church lasted several decades until the 1960s, when it was replaced by a new building, designed with ultra-modern style in contrast to many of the city’s 19th century edifices. But this new building only lasted until 2000, when attendance declines spurred the diocese to merge St. William’s, St. Elizabeth’s and St. Jean Baptiste into Holy Trinity. The church was torn down shortly thereafter, though the rectory and the Parish Center, the Monsignor Considine Center, stayed. The Considine Center was, for a time, leased by the city of Fall River and used as a senior center; these buildings were torn down in the mid-2010s and the land left vacant for years. The city considered buying the land to preserve as open space, adding to Maplewood Park, but that plan never came to fruition.
What’s there now? The land was sold to real estate developers, who built several single-family homes.
Sts. Peter and Paul Church
Does it still exist? No.
Where was it? 250 Snell St. in the Niagara neighborhood
What happened to it? The parish was established in April 1882, and after years of holding services in a simple wood-frame building began construction on a much grander structure in 1896, to be finished in 1900. Architect Ralph Adams Cram — a figure famed for his religious buildings nationwide, who also designed the Fall River Public Library and the Japanese-inspired Rising Sun home on Highland Avenue — created an elegant building in the Spanish Renaissance style. Sts. Peter and Paul Church was topped with a dome visible across the Niagara neighborhood. The parish in 1923 opened a religious school across Snell Street. Tragedy struck 50 years later: in April 1973, a policeman on his rounds smelled smoke and discovered a fire had broken out in the church’s boiler room. The three-alarm fire completely destroyed Sts. Peter and Paul, and days later scavengers were found picking through the wreckage for souvenirs. The parish held services in its chapel until 1997, when the diocese merged the parish with nearby Holy Cross. The Sts. Peter and Paul School kept going until 2013, until the diocese decided to shutter it amid declining enrollment and mounting debt.
What’s there now? Argosy Collegiate Charter School has occupied what used to be Sts. Peter and Paul School since 2018. The spot where the church once stood is a parking lot and vacant space, owned by Argosy.
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St. Roch’s Church
Does it still exist? Yes.
Where is it? 859 Pine St.
What happened to it? The St. Roch's parish was founded in 1899 to serve French Canadian immigrants living in this relatively poor neighborhood just east of Ruggles Park. The church sat across from the Pine Street School, which educated neighborhood kids for a century — but St. Roch's had its own school, church hall, rectory and a convent. It was named for a parish in Quebec, Canada, and the patron saint of dogs, the sick, those falsely accused and bachelors, among other venerations. St. Roch’s was a structure of simple beauty in a sea of triple-deckers, its steeple reaching past their roofs and visible from nearby hills. Over the decades, the neighborhood demographics shifted from the home of French Canadian to Portuguese immigrants, and its attendance declined. In June 1982, only about 100 parishioners still worshipped at St. Roch’s, and the diocese decided to close the parish.
What’s there now? A private developer purchased St. Roch’s shortly after its closing. A plan to open a homeless shelter there met with serious resistance from neighbors. The building was refurbished and became a 30-unit apartment building.
Our Lady of the Angels Church
Does it still exist? Yes.
Where is it? 811 Dwelly St.
What happened to it? This parish was formed in 1915 to serve Portuguese Catholics in the Globe neighborhood, offering the faithful a convenient alternative to making the trek to Santo Christo on Columbia Street. The building was humbler than most by design, meant to recall the Old Country — it was “built on the lines of the various mission churches that are scattered throughout the Azores, which style has been faithfully carried out by the architects,” according to the Fall River Globe of May 19, 1917. The building was blessed and dedicated in April 1917. It served for years, then like many others, fell victim to attendance decline. In 1999, the diocese announced plans to merge it with two other South End parishes, Blessed Sacrament and St. Patrick’s — plans which were eventually carried out in 2002 when the three united to form Good Shepherd Parish worshipping at St. Patrick's. The Our Lady of the Angels building continued to be used as a chapel and was available for weddings and funerals, but was sold to a developer in 2014.
What’s there now? The church still stands, and is still Portuguese. A different Christian denomination now owns the building and uses it for worship, the Igreja Internacional Graça e Paz, or the Grace and Peace Church.
Dan Medeiros can be reached at dmedeiros@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: 5 Fall River Catholic churches destroyed or sold in city's history
