St. John the Evangelist Church

Story

St. John the Evangelist is a historic Roman Catholic Church at 2270 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts.The late Speaker of the House, "Tip" O'Neill, was a lifelong parishioner and graduated from St. John High School in 1931. His Requiem Mass was held in the church on January 10, 1994.The church was built in 1904 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The architects, Maginnis, Walsh & Sullivan, won four gold medals from the American Institute of Architects. One was for St. John's.HistoryUntil the early 1890s North Cambridge and West Somerville were part of Saint Peter’s parish. Members from this section of the parish would travel long distances to attend Mass on Sunday. Because of rapidly growing industries and the growing number of immigrants, Father Flately, the pastor of St. Peter's Parish, worried that the young children would not get a proper Catholic education. In 1890, he purchased an acre of land on Spruce Street (now Rindge Avenue). On January 1, 1893 St. John's Parish became an independent parish and worshiped in a small wooden chapel on Rindge Avenue.In 1898 the estate of the late Horatio Locke, on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Hollis Street, was purchased for $18,000 as the site for the new church. The Locke house was moved to 8 Hollis Street and became the second rectory. In 1930 the third and present rectory was built of yellow brick at 2254 Massachusetts Avenue, on the site of the Woodbridge House, in Prance (Dutch) School Style with Moorish windows. Architect was William B. Colleary; builder was Walsh Brothers. The old rectory at 8 Hollis Street was razed. A monstrance made of gold, silver, diamonds and other precious stones, donated by parishioners, was used for a Holy Hour to begin the Holy Year in 1933. It was reputed to be the largest monstrance in the United States.