St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, now known as Sweet Prospect Baptist Church, is a historic Roman Catholic church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 located at Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is an 1855-1856 Italianate

Italianate architecture

The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...

-influenced masonry structure that is constructed of stuccoed brick walls resting on a rubble stone foundation. It was designed by Niernsee

John Rudolph Niernsee

John Rudolph Niernsee was an American architect, the head architect for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He was born as Johann Rudolph Niernsee in Vienna, Austria and immigrated to the United States in 1837, at age 22...

 & Neilson. The exterior features twin square towers flanking the main façade and a semi-octagonal apse flanked by one-story pavilions on the back. It is the most intact remaining example of an Italianate public edifice in Baltimore. The final mass was held at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, on June 26, 1966, and the congregation merged with that of St. James the Less

St. James the Less Roman Catholic Church

St. James the Less Roman Catholic Church, also known as St. James and St. John's Roman Catholic Church, is a historic Roman Catholic church located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is a High Victorian Gothic influenced brick structure with Romanesque Revival overtones built 1865-67. It...

, just two block away. The church then became the New Central Social Hall.

St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1982.

External links

• St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, Baltimore City, including photo from 1980, at Maryland Historical Trust
• Maryland Historical Society website
• Sweet Prospect Baptist Church website