Chapter Seventeen
Saint John the Baptist
Roman Catholic Church

By James Wudarczyk

Saint John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church was an outgrowth of the Irish immigration of the 1870’s. Bishop Tuigg consented to the creation of a new parish, thus dividing the ethnic Irish parishes of Saint Patrick’s, 17th Street, and Saint Mary’s, 46th Street. The boundaries of the new territorial parish were set at 28th and 39th Street, the Allegheny River and Ridgeway Street.

It was under the direction of Father Andrew Gibbs, pastor of Saint Mary Church, that the lands necessary for the new parish were purchased and a committee was established. This committee consisted of Patrick McCabe, of Draying and Construction Company; John McCarthy, Attorney; Owen McCusker, tavern keeper; James Neeson, millwright; Thomas McCaffrey, real estate agent; John C. O’Donnell, grocer, and afterwards postmaster of Pittsburgh.

Lands for the parish were purchased from the Denny family at 32nd Street and Liberty Avenue. Bishop Tuigg officiated at the dedication of the cornerstone of the church on October 20, 1878. As the parish history noted, “During the last months of the historic year 1878 the work of building the church went on, and in the following Spring the edifice was completed, and once more Bishop Tuigg was called upon to officiate, this time at the dedication ceremonies on June 8th, 1879, at ten o’clock. Reverend Charles V. Neeson, who had recently been appointed Pastor offered up the first Mass in the new church, assisted by Rev. S. Wall as Deacon, and Rev. Thomas Briley as Sub-Deacon, with Rev. A. P. Gibbs acting as Master of Ceremonies. Bishop Tuigg said a few words on this occasion, after which Rev. Richard Phelan preached the dedication sermon.” Constructed at a cost of $18,000, the first edifice was a red brick building that was trimmed with stone. “The church was a two-story building eighty feet by forty feet, the body of the church and the gallery comprising the first floor, while the second floor was used as a school.”

The parish history also indicated, “Later on when the enrollment in the school had increased to a great extent a temporary frame building was also used for school purposes.”

Classes opened in August 1880, with five Sisters of Charity serving as teachers. Since Saint John’s did not have a convent, these dedicated sisters commuted daily by train from Sacred Heart Convent in East Liberty. In September 1881, the parish obtained convent facilities by purchasing a house at 2943 Penn Avenue.

Apparently in 1886 a rectory was built in the back of the church. However, a house at 3454 Penn Avenue was later purchased for use as a rectory, and the sisters moved into the facility in the back of the church.

Although the parish history did not specify when the first parish picnic was held, it did mention that the location for the affair was Arsenal Park, and subsequent picnics were held at Schutzen Park, located at what is now Friendship Park.

There may be indication that the parish planned expansion along Penn Avenue. “In 1891 the church purchased a piece of property fronting 274 feet on Penn Avenue and running back 100 feet to Spring Alley; in 1902 an additional piece the Scott property, was bought, amounting to 64 feet; the aggregate cost of the entire Penn Avenue property being about $67,000.00. Fifty feet of this Penn Avenue frontage was sold in February 1904 to J. L. Slater for $10,000.00.”

Father Neeson passed away on April 26, 1891, and was succeeded by Father Edward J. McKeever. It was under the direction of Father McKeever that the parish purchased property at 36th and Liberty Avenue for $60,000.00, and in 1903 constructed a new church. The church cost an additional $56,000.00 to construct. In 1907 contracts were awarded for a school and convent.

The church, designed by John Comes for the Beezer Brothers, was unique in that the broadly striped brick, stone, and terra cotta displayed Comes’ concept of how the Italian Romanesque style could be incorporated into the Pittsburgh landscape. The other parish facilities facing Liberty Avenue also artistically incorporated this same style of architecture.

Reverend McKeever was very active in the historical, social, and business planning of the sixth ward of Lawrenceville. He was also a visionary, in that he incorporated an air conditioning unit and inter-communication system in both the school and convent. At the time of his death, Father McKeever had been residing in an old house at 3454 Penn Avenue.

Apparently financing of these projects was done in part through the sale of the Thirty-second and Liberty Avenue properties. Between 1899 and 1906 there were several bids for the properties, but the parish refused to sell until September 15, 1906, when the Schuykill Land and Improvement Company offered the parish $123,000.00. This proved to be a windfall for the church since the lot and structure originally cost the parish $38,000.00.

The parish history sheds some additional light on the social activities of the parish and neighborhood institutions. Once a year the parish had a large tea with overflowing crowds of parishioners. This and other activities were held at a number of places, including the old frame hall at the corner of Thirty-second Street, as well as the old Power House, Kane’s Hall at Forty-fourth Street, or Melwood Auditorium in the East End. “After the new Church was opened in 1902, the old building was given over to the young men for lyceum purposes, and there are many men in the Parish today who remember, with considerable pleasure, the happy nights they spent there. In religious, social and athletic activities, St. John’s Parish was among the foremost.”

In January 1915, a fire destroyed the altar and much of the interior of the church. The construction of a new altar and the repainting of the church proved to be a setback to the parish in paying down the debt.

In 1921 the parish celebrated the Golden Jubilee of Father McKeever with the school children presenting testimonials at a dinner in Woolslair Auditorium.

Father Albert J. Wigley succeeded Reverend McKeever on January 3, 1924. His task was to construct a new rectory on the Liberty Avenue property at a cost of about $45,000.00. He also installed a new pipe organ in the church at a cost of $8,000.00, and built a temporary hall for social events for $6,000.00.

In September 1924, a high school for both boys and girls was opened at the parish. Although the girls’ high school continued until the late 1960’s, the boys’ school was closed following the opening of Central Catholic High School in 1931.

The rapid decline in population of the city in the 1980’s had an adverse effect on the parish. Whereas in 1950 the elementary school had four hundred students enrolled and the girls’ high school had two hundred fifty pupils, neither were operational by 1980. In the mid-1980’s the convent was converted into a half-way house for troubled juveniles. With the reorganization of the Lawrenceville parishes in 1993, it was deemed that there were no longer enough parishioners to keep the church open. The property was later sold to a microbrewery and operated under the name of “The Church Brew Works.”