St. Patrick Catholic Church - York, PA
N 39° 57.490 W 076° 43.665
18S E 352425 N 4424543
The NRHP lists the church as being erected in 1895, which matches up with the fancy date stone. The church and parish have been a part of York since 1741!
Waymark Code: WMGW2E
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 04/14/2013
Views: 6
This is one of the most interesting churches I have ever found. It looks like something out of medieval times although it is listed as Gothic Revival which I guess does fit. There are all kinds of castles, turrets and other interesting architecture of whose name I do not know. Suffice to say the church is enormous with its huge chunk of real estate, its ginormous stained glass window out front and the out buildings which make up this parish, all contributing structures just like the church.
The origin of St. Patrick Parish dates back to as early as 1741. At that time, a congregation was gathering and worshiping in York in a Mass-House or chapel, probably on a farm owned by a Catholic family near Codorus Creek. No records of this mission exist prior to 1776. However, many believe that the priests from Lancaster, Conewago, Baltimore and Emmitsburg cared for this mission. Anti-Catholic British laws made public worship impossible. In 1742, Thomas Penn, proprietor of Pennsylvania, wrote to the land agent of York as follows: “I desire that no ground may be granted to any Roman Catholicks [sic]… they hold tenets destructive to all others, and I would not have a lot in town (York) granted to any one of them, even for a private dwelling.”
The first parish school was opened in 1851 in a remodeled dwelling with lay teachers. The Sisters of Charity from Mount Saint Vincent, New York, came in 1875 to take charge of the school, remaining until 1934. At that time, the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary assumed this duty and continue to lovingly serve until this day. The present school was constructed in 1886, with an addition built alongside of it in 1964. In 1895, the present church and rectory were erected. The church was dedicated in 1898. A hall was built on the parish grounds in 1980 to accommodate school and other parish-wide functions. In celebration of its 100th anniversary, the church underwent an extensive renovation in 1995. SOURCE
The nomination form does not really go into detail about any of the contributing structures, in fact, it just gives the barest possible tidbits of information. For this property, the inventory gave the following information: St. Patricks Catholic Church - 1895 - Brick - Gothic Revival - Contributing - 2 floors.