Lower Garden District in New Orleans in Orleans Parish, Louisiana — The American South (West South Central)
St. Alphonsus Church
The first of three great churches built by The Redemptorists for Catholics in the Irish Channel. St. Alphonsus for the Irish, St. Mary's Assumption for the Germans and Notre Dame de bon Secours for the French.
Design by Baltimore architect Louis L. Long.
The cornerstone was laid on June 10, 1855.
The church was blessed on August 2, 1857
and consecrated on April 25, 1858.
Interior ceiling paintings attributed to Dominique Canova and others were completed in 1866. Later additions include the main and side altars by Buscher of Chicago in 1868, the main altar painting executed in Rome by Franz Von Rohden and installed in 1872 and wood statues carved in Munich which arrived in 1884. Stained glass windows by F.X. Zettler of Munich were installed in 1889 and 1890. The 1905 side wall altars executed by Pietro Ghiloni and the 1930 shrine to Our Lady were designed by architect Albert Bendernagel.
In 1925 the three Redemptorist Parishes were consolidated and St. Alphonsus was declared the Parish church.
During the late 1920s and the depression years of the 1930s as many as 35,000 people attended weekly Tuesday Novenas to Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
After being closed in 1979, the church was reopened in 1990 by the Friends of St. Alphonsus as the St. Alphonsus Arts and Cultural Center.
Erected by Orleans Parish Landmarks Commission.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Churches & Religion.
Location. 29° 55.791′ N, 90° 4.474′ W. Marker is in New Orleans, Louisiana, in Orleans Parish. It is in the Lower Garden District. Marker is on Constance Street west of St. Andrew Street, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2030 Constance Street, New Orleans LA 70130, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Goldsmith-Godchaux House (approx. 0.2 miles away); Moore McNamara House (approx. 0.2 miles away); Gasquet Bland House (approx. 0.2 miles away); West Hobson House (approx. 0.2 miles away); Stewart House (approx. ¼ mile away); Fernandez Upton Cottage (approx. ¼ mile away); Trinity Church Episcopal (approx. ¼ mile away); Puech Shakspeare Tessier House (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in New Orleans.
More about this marker. Constance Street is one-way west bound at this location.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 12, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 4, 2017, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 287 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on July 4, 2017.