Built 1877 (1877) Area 8,000 m² Phone +1 256-536-6349 Added to NRHP 22 September 1980 | NRHP Reference # 80000705 Opened 1877 Architectural style Romanesque architecture | |
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MPS Downtown Huntsville MRA Address 222 Jefferson St N, Huntsville, AL 35801, USA Similar Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Cathedral of Saint Paul, Shrine of the Most Blessed, Southern Adventures, Maple Hill Cemetery Profiles | ||
St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church is a historic church in Huntsville, Alabama. The oldest Catholic church in North Alabama, construction began in 1861 but was interrupted by the Civil War and completed in 1877.
Description
St. Mary Church was built of limestone in a Romanesque Revival style. The façade is framed by two hexagonal towers; the spire of the north tower houses the bell, and is raised six feet (1.8 meters) above the south tower. The large central double entrance doors and smaller flanking doors are topped by an arched wooden infill panel. All openings on the façade are topped with projecting round stone arches, with the keystones and imposts projecting further. A stone belt course runs half-way up the front. Pilasters climb between the central and side doors and terminate about 5 feet (1.5 m) above the gable roof in a shallow gable wall. Crosses adorn this wall and the two towers. A semi-hexagonal apse is a later addition to the rear of the building. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Patrick McCauley, the editor from 1966 to 1994 of The Huntsville Times, was a former president of the church council.