St. Joseph Catholic Church (Roxbury, Massachusetts)
Encyclopedia
St. Joseph Catholic Church was a parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston
, serving the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston
, Massachusetts
. The parish was established in 1845, and a church was built in the same year. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1989. The parish was suppressed by the archdiocese in 2002, resulting in the sale of the property.
However, in the 1990s, a construction crew discovered a gravestone while digging a trench. The digging stopped, but no other artifacts were found. Again, in 2006, digging commenced. The parish property had been sold by the archdiocese, and the parish needed confirmation that there were no longer human remains on site. When a bone was found, the Massachusetts Historical Commission
investigated the site and discovered the forgotten graves. All of the remains that were found at St. Joseph Cemetery were re-interred at Calvary Cemetery in Waltham
.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the New England region of the United States. It comprises several counties of the state of Massachusetts...
, serving the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. The parish was established in 1845, and a church was built in the same year. The building was added to 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 1989. The parish was suppressed by the archdiocese in 2002, resulting in the sale of the property.
Cemetery
As was common in the 19th century, the parish property included space for a cemetery, which was blessed in 1850. However, due to its small size, the cemetery had filled by 1868. There were about 600 people (mostly Irish immigrants from County Donegal) buried in the cemetery. After 1882, the city mapmakers ceased including it, and the parish gradually forgot that it existed. As early as 1887, when the parish grammar school was built next to it, there seemed to be no recognition of the cemetery. It was nothing more than a field with no visible gravestones.However, in the 1990s, a construction crew discovered a gravestone while digging a trench. The digging stopped, but no other artifacts were found. Again, in 2006, digging commenced. The parish property had been sold by the archdiocese, and the parish needed confirmation that there were no longer human remains on site. When a bone was found, the Massachusetts Historical Commission
Massachusetts Historical Commission
The Massachusetts Historical Commission is a review board for state and federal preservation programs for the United States state of Massachusetts...
investigated the site and discovered the forgotten graves. All of the remains that were found at St. Joseph Cemetery were re-interred at Calvary Cemetery in Waltham
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, was an early center for the labor movement, and major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning,...
.