Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption (Fall River, Massachusetts)


The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, colloquially known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, is a historic church located in Fall River, Massachusetts. It is the cathedral and a parish church in the Diocese of Fall River. Built from 1852 to 1856, the cathedral and adjacent rectory were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, as St. Mary's Cathedral and Rectory. It is the oldest extant church building in the city of Fall River, and was one of the city's first Catholic parishes. The cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Assumption.

History

Architecture

St. Mary's Cathedral was designed by prominent Brooklyn, New York church architect Patrick Keely in an “Early English” mode of the Gothic Revival style. He later designed St. Joseph and St. Patrick churches in Fall River. The cathedral and the entire steeple are stonework composed of native granite. The naves are covered by a shingled roof. The building measures and the spire rises to a height of. The main entrance is set in a shallow gabled frontispiece. Above it on the main facade is a rose window in the main gable.
The interior includes intricate woodwork, with some gilding above the sanctuary. The structure is divided into three naves by granite columns. The central nave rises above the side naves that flank it forming a clerestory that is lined with windows. It is capped by a hammer-beam ceiling that rises above the floor. The oldest of the stain glass windows are located in the nave. They were created in Germany and installed in 1891. The chancel widows were created in Brooklyn and installed in 1915. The Lancet windows in the rear gallery were created in Boston and installed in 1952.
The rectory was designed by the Boston architectural firm of Maginnis & Walsh. Like the cathedral, it was designed in the Gothic Revival style and its exterior is clad in granite.