The authoritative source on
  early churches of New Jersey

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We've created a database and photographic inventory on more than half the 18th & 19th century churches in the state and add to it each month. We welcome and solicit all contributions and suggestions from our visitors.

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   Photographic Inventory

Saint Patrick's Roman Catholic Church
Jersey City, Hudson County

Saint Patrick's was started in 1871 but not completed until 1877. The Financial Panic of 1873 was one of the worst in the country's history, and resulted in suspension or abandonment of building plans all over the nation. The church is the design of Patrick Keely, although the obituary of Newark architect Jeremiah O'Rourke credits him (erroneously, in my opinion) with the building. St. Patrick's stands at Bramhall and Grand, and was built to serve a predominately Irish population. Keely was the Catholic church's leading architect—he designed more than 600 churches in this county, including St. Joseph's, St. Michael's, St. Peter's and St. Bridgit's in the city, and at least a dozen others elsewhere in New Jersey.

According to the church's website, which identifies Keely as the architect, "The interior of the Gothic church features ribbed vaulting, with sixteen granite columns support the clerestory walls, a nave, side aisles, channel, side chapels, and stained glass windows, but no transept. The extreme length of the church is 272 feet and the extreme width is 138 feet; the spire rises to a height of 225 feet with a base 33 feet square." The church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Copyright (c) 2001 Frank L. Greenagel