St. James Rectory, last of the old buildings in historic St. James the Greater parish in the Cheltenham district, is being razed to make way for an addition to the church school.
Although only about 65 years old, the frame building on the northeast corner of Tamm and Wade avenues is an important link between the first church of 1860 and the relatively new church across the street, built in 1928.
The rectory was the second in the parish, built to replace one erected in 1871. Rev. Patrick J. O'Connor, present pastor, occupied the rectory until recent years when he moved to a structure at 6401 Wade ave.
The old rectory has outlasted both the first church of 1860, destroyed by fire in 1891, and the second church of 1891, which was gutted by fire in 1919.
Built shortly after Cheltenham was incorporated into the city, the rectory rests on part of the Gratiot League Square, which dates to 1798.
The earliest name for the Cheltenham section was Sulphur Springs, and the well-known Sulphur Springs Hotel burned about the time the rectory was built.
The parish has been noted not only for its historic background but for its Irish pastors as each of them has been born in Ireland.
Construction of an extension to the church school will be another addition to a building program which was highlighted in 1928 with completion of a beautiful eleventh century gothic church.
Bob Corbett corbetre@webster.edu| HOME | DOGTOWN |
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