St. Lucy's Roman Catholic Church

St. Lucy's Roman Catholic Church

St. Lucy's Church is located near Branch Brook park, the Colonnade apartments and the now-demolished Columbus Homes. This building completed in 1925 is one of the largest Roman Catholic churches in the archdiocese of Newark and has served the Italian-American community of the First Ward. Architecturally, the church has a hybrid plan with Romanesque Revival and eclectic elements. The front facade presents a tripartite configuration with the main arched entryway flanked by colossal pilasters and surmounted by a rose window. The materials used are beige brick for the walls, white terra cotta for the trims and surrounds, and copper for the standing seam roof. In the interior, the elaborate ornamentation are supplemented by numerous murals, stained glass windows, reliefs and sculptures.

1925

extant

In the 1940s, the church artist, Gonippo Raggi, guided the completion of the interior murals. While the building has been largely preserved, the church has lost its original Italian-American community of parishioners due to the exodus generated by the urban renewal plans of Columbus Homes.

"Convery Will Head Architect's Group." Newark evening News. June 14, 1939.

Cunningham, John T. Newark. Newark, N.J: New Jersey Historical Society, 1966.

Gordon, Mark W., and Anthony Schuman, editors. Newark Landmark Treasures: A Guide to the Landmark Buildings, Parks, Public Art & Historic Districts in New Jersey’s Metropolis. Newark Preservation and Landmarks Committee, 2016, p. 57.

Immerso, Michael. Newark's Little Italy: The Vanished First Ward. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press, 1997. 

National Register of Historic Places, St. Lucy's Church, Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, National Register #98001570

Romanesque Revival