St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church and Holy Family School
Built in 1909 to accommodate the growing Portuguese congregation, St. Joseph’s was badly damaged in the 1974 earthquake but was restored and in use until 1987. The roof and steeple were repaired in the early 2000s, but the rest of the property awaits renovation. The building beside it, built in 1870, housed a school and Convent until 1903, then the Presbytery, and finally the Holy Family School. Devastated by Hurricane Luis in 1995, it was repaired but now stands vacant.
The Church
The first Catholic place of worship was a building on Redcliffe Street and Pigotts Alley but it soon outgrew the space. In the early 1860s, the church moved to a building on lower North Street in the Point and then to a large townhouse further up lower North Street. A property on East and Church streets was purchased in 1871 and a church was built there, but when the priest at the time discovered that it suffered from serious structural weaknesses, St. Joseph’s was built on the same site. The church was opened for worship in 1909 but was not consecrated until 1932, when the building had been paid for. This photo is from 1910.
The design of the church is primarily neo-Gothic, with pointed arches, “glued-on” machicolations, and, on the front only, engaged buttresses. Quoins join the buttresses at the two front corners and continue around the building at the corners. A steeple straddles the roof at the front.
In this colourized postcard from 1964, note the row of Mahogany trees, with what is the Antigua Recreation Grounds on the right.
The interior was elaborate.
The renovation included the roof and the steeple.
The Church as a place of worship has been replaced by the Holy Family Cathedral at Michael’s Mount, which was completed in 1987.
In 1867, five Sisters of the Faithful Virgin came from Dominica to start a school and orphanage in a building at the corner of Bishopgate and Popehead streets. In 1870, after that building became too small, a new building was constructed to serve as both school (downstairs) and Convent (upstairs). In 1903, the school closed due the difficulty of recruiting teaching Sisters and it became the Presbytery and lending library.
The building has a masonry basement with arched openings and a hip roof. The ground floor arcade had wood columns, a wooden balustrade, ornamental arches, and a central masonry stair.
In 1933, it became the Holy Family School under the leadership of the Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Heart of Mercy. It later became St. John’s Primary School. Unlike the Convent High School, no fees were charged at Holy Family, which opened it to a much wider range of families.
Hurricane Luis in 1995 devastated the building, which then underwent major repairs and refurbishing. For many years, it housed the Chancellery Office for the Diocese of St. John’s. It now stands empty, awaiting renovation. This photo is from 1970.
