St. Mary's Catholic Church (Nashville, Tennessee)

St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows Church (commonly St. Mary's Catholic Church and formerly the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin of the Seven) is a historic Catholic parish in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Its church on the corner of Charlotte Avenue and 5th Avenue in Nashville, Tennessee, built in 1845, it is the oldest extant church in Nashville[2] and the oldest Catholic church in what is now the Diocese of Nashville.[3] St. Mary replaced the diocese's first church, Holy Rosary, which had been erected previously on the site today occupied by the Tennessee State Capitol.[4]

St. Mary's Catholic Church
Location330 5th Ave., N., Nashville, Tennessee
Coordinates36°9′57″N 86°46′53″W
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1845
ArchitectWilliam Strickland
Architectural styleGreek Revival
NRHP reference No.70000609[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 08, 1970

The church was designed by Adolphus Heiman (1809–1862), who also designed a number of other notable Nashville buildings, including the State Asylum and the Italianate-style Belmont Mansion. The late antebellum Greek Revival structure features a gabled front entrance of two fluted Ionic order columns supporting a classical pediment. The cornerstone was laid in 1844, not long after the erection of the diocese in 1837; construction was delayed, however, by lack of funds. It was dedicated on October 31, 1847.[5] Richard Pius Miles, the first Bishop of Nashville, was the driving force behind its construction, and he is now buried there.[2]

St. Mary's remained the cathedral until 1914, when the episcopal see was moved to the Cathedral of the Incarnation.

The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Van West, Carroll, "St. Mary's Catholic Church", Tennessee Encyclopedia of Culture and History
  3. Cathedral of the Incarnation, Cathedral History, retrieved 2012-04-19
  4. O'Daniel, Victor (1926), The Father of the Church in Tennessee Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. "Brief History of St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows Catholic Church", St. Mary's website, retrieved 2012-04-19


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