The Sacred Heart Church, Rectory, School and Convent make up a historic Roman Catholic church complex in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The church was built in the 1870s and 1880s to serve the parish first organized as the St. John the Evangelist Parish in 1842. The cornerstone of the church was laid on 4 October 1874. It was dedicated in 1883, and opened for Divine Service on 12 November 1876. The rectory was added in 1885, and the convent and school followed in 1902. The church is a Medieval Gothic structure designed by P. W. Ford. The complex occupies an entire city block,[2] and has been partly taken over for Cambridge city school administration.
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The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 13 April 1982; #387395.[1]
Under the pastorate of Msgr. John O'Brien the cornerstone of Sacred Heart Church was laid on October 4, 1874 by Archbishop John Joseph Williams. Later Bishop of Portland, Maine, James Augustine Healy, then pastor of St. James in Boston delivered the sermon. The basement of the church opened for services on November 12, 1876.
Sacred Heart Church was dedicated on January 28, 1883 with Archbishop Williams presiding, assisted by Bishops Healy of Portland, McMahon of Hartford, and O'Reilly of Springfield.
A "Desctiption of the Altar by the Architect" states in part, "The altar of the Sacred Heart Church, for beauty of design and grandeur of effect, has few, if any rivals in the United States."[3]
The Sacred Heart Rectory was built in 1895 under Msgr. O'Brien.
The Parish School opened in 1902 and was staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph. The High School would close in June 1964 and the elementary school would close in June 1966.
The Parish Baptistry, between the rectory and church building, closing off the courtyard, was built in 1906.
The Church steeple was razed in June 1962 due to poor structural condition.
On June 29, 1963 the church structure suffered a fire.[4] During the fire the roof and most of the original windows were destroyed.[5]