1888: GENESIS OF IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH

This little vignette took some PhotoShop time to bring together into one legible graphic. It tells of the beginnings of Trenton's landmark Chambersburg church on Chestnut Street. The 1901 engraving is from a clipping in my collection. Note that the article from the Daily True American gave the location of the new church as "Chambersbury." The story of the beginnings of the church make for fascinating reading as seen through the news accounts of the year 1888.

1890: CHAMBERSBURG'S IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH

Fifty plus years of historic research has shown that nearly every large church in the Trenton area at one time has a steeple or steeples as in the case of Immaculate. Over the years, most of those steeples came crashing to the ground during heavy storms. The Hamilton Square Presbyterian Church, Trenton's First Baptist Church, and many others yielded to the ferocity of mother nature's stormy wrath. The original Immaculate as illustrated in the engraving must have been a magnificent site on Chestnut Avenue in the early years. Today, Rev. Father Jeff Lee's Our Lady of Angels - Immaculate Conception-St. Joachim churches have moved into the second century of ministering to their respective flocks.

Carlo said...

Hello Tom, I really enjoyed the
above article about Immaculate Conception Church..As far as I know, the steeples shown in the original graphic were never built due to lack of funds. They would have made a beautiful church even more magnificent. Stay well anf keep up your good work!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

1913: ST. FRANCIS COLLEGE

Did you know that St. Anthony of Padua Church on South Olden Avenue in Hamilton owes its existence to Immacualte Conception Parish? Along with St. Joachim's Church, "Immaculate" is alive with very interesting history. Over the oncoming years, I will be posting further fascinating historic photos and articles from the past as they relate to these two legendary landmarks.

Anonymous said...

Tom, Saint Francis College? I have never heard mention of this. Is there some relationship to the hospital?

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Michael said...

Tom: The only connection I am aware of between Immaculate, and St. Francis College; St. Francis of Loretto Penna. was the ultimate college for many Trenton Catholic graduates. There was a good amount of "steering" to this school. Hope this helps. Mike

Hi Mike-Hi Anonymous:

Thanks for your input. I have added the 1913 graphic above to explain the St. Francis College - Immaculate connection. Note the involvement of the Franciscan Fathers, all from the order of St. Francis.

Tom Glover

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Stephen said...

St. Francis College on Chestnut Avenue existed as early as 1882. According to "Chronological Index of Events in Trenton During the Year 1882" published by Trenton Daily True American on Monday Morning, January 1, 1883 (see: http://trentonhistory.org/Index/Index1882.htmlhttp://trentonhistory.org/Index/Index1882.html) on Dec 21, 1882 Bishop O’Farrell ordained three students of St. Francis College as Sub-Deacons at St. Mary’s Cathedral. St. Francis College was more akin to today's high school in that boys usually entered the schoool around the age of thirteen. It was a three year course of study for boys interested in the priesthood. Subsequent studies at other schools were more akin to today's four year colleges. Sometime around 1920 I surmise that St. Francis College and its functions relocated to Staten Island, NY. I found references to students attending St. Francis College on Staten Island in relation to studying for the priesthood. At some point it was renamed St. Francis Minor Seminary and closed in 1997. The Staten Island school was operated by the same order (Franciscans, OFM Conv.) as found at Immaculate Conception parish. St. Francis Minor Seminary was like St. Francis College, a college preparatory school (4 years instead of 3) for boys interested in the priesthood. The November 20, 1921 edition of the Trenton Sunday Times-Advertiser mention a play being performed to make improvements to the the building formerly housing St. Francis College and now being used by the nuns teachinng at Immaculate Conception Grammar School. Part of the building is also being used as a Catholic high school for 40 pupils and that it is the beginning of a high school in connection with the Immaculate Conception Grammar School. This building was constructed in 1898. Around 1938 the former St. Francis College building became the Administration Building for Trenton Catholic Boys High School. It is now a parking lot.

The new Immaculate Conception High School building was dedicated on July 19, 1925 and opened that fall to accomodate all Chambersburg pupils. Having become an all boys school in Fall 1936, it was renamed Trenton Catholic Boys High School in 1938. The cornerstone of the Immaculate Conception Grammar School was laid on June 24, 1906 with the first students arriving in September 1907. The enrollment figures for September 1907 showed that there were over 600 pupils attending Immaculate Conception Grammar School.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Thanks you Stephen for the added information on the college. Like so many things of an historic nature, sometimes the newspapers publish differing accounts. The 1913 article I posted led me to believe that 1900 was the year of the college. However, I place more credibility in your findings and really appreciate the research you put forward. You are a special guy. Thanks much, and keep adding to our local history; that's what this site is all about------informed citizen input along with mine.

Tom Glover

1946: GOD LOOKS AT IMMACULATE CONCEPTION - TRENTON CATHOLIC

This fascinating photo is from the 1946 edition of the class yearbook, "Immaculata." It took quite a bit of tweaking to bring out the highlights, and dim the too-bright areas. However, the view from above gives a pretty good idea of the Immaculate-Chambersburg area as it looked in post WWII Trenton.

1921: FATHER BERNRADINE LUDWIG OBIT

As can be seen by the obit above, Father Ludwig was one of those who were instrumental in the development of Immaculate Conception Parish in Chambersburg. The engraving of the church which I imported into the article shows the church when it had two steeples. That is either an architect's rendering, or the church actually appeared that way and over the years, lightning took its toll. Any Immaculate Conception historian who is familiar with the history of this great parish might be able to clear this up for us.

1879: Our Lady of Lourdes School - Immaculate Conception Chambersburg

Many articles such as the one above dealing with "rural Chambersburg" and Our Lady of Lourdes School, have been buried in the millions of pages of the daily Trenton newspapers of the past. The above article and hundreds like it, contains historic facts that have been completely unknown to many of us for over a century. It is a joy to bring them into the light of day for current and future generations. Historians agree that newspapers are among the best sources of history, In this case, they provide a valuable addition to the history of the local area. One of the projected on screen programs I do as part of my library outreach is entitled,

"The Computer and Local History: Perfect Together;" and indeed they are.

1940'S IMMACULATE CONCEPTION MASS TICKETS

Most of the "High Holy Days" surrounding Christmas and Easter are "SRO," Standing Room Only. Those tickets would probably present a problem to that segment of the population who attend Mass once or twice a year.

1897: Circa 1897 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION PARISH

This vintage engraving , and the following post of the Immaculate Conception Church was extracted (torn) from the original source. It was interleaved in one of my scrapbooks with no identifying source for the photo. These two vintage engravings are believed to be from a paper back volume I recall seeing many years ago, "A Century of Catholicity" from the latter part of the 19th century. However, that is sheer speculation on my part.

1946: BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AREA OF "THE BURG"

THANKS TO RUSS METZGER FOR LENDING ME A COPY OF THE 1946 TCHS YEARBOOK, "IMMACULATA." I HAVE ADDED THE IDENTIFYING TEXT. THE VERTICAL LINE DOWN THE CENTER IS THE FOLD BETWEEN THE FRONT COVER AND FIRST LEAF OF THE YEARBOOK

1879: Immaculate Conception Neighborhood Developing

One of the more interesting subjects in the Hamilton Library's Local History Collection deals with the development of the suburban areas. Back when this article was written, the Chambersburg area was considered the suburbs. From cornfields and fruit orchards to paved streets, the borough of Chambersburg has a fascinating past.

1888: Our Lady of Lourdes- Immaculate Conception

Here's an article describing the soon ot be built church of Our Lady of Lourdes. Today we know it as Immaculate Conception on Chestnut Avenue in the Chambersburg section of Trenton. The estimated cost for the new building was $75,000! In old engravings of the church, there were two spires. I would assume they met the same fate as most steeples in the city churches, becoming the victims of lightning strikes.