Holy Hill

Holy Hill. . , "Holy Hill," the site of Georgetown University, the Convent of the Visitation, and Holy Trinity Church, has been the center of Catholic spiritual life in the nation's capital since its beginnings in the late-18th century. , , Shortly after the platting of Georgetown in 1751, Roman Catholics, forbidden by law to worship publicly or have churches, gathered in "mass houses" to celebrate the Eucharist. After U.S. independence, Archbishop John Carroll of Maryland purchased land for five shillings to build an academy for boys and a parish church in Georgetown. The school founded in 1789 became Georgetown University, and in 1794 Holy Trinity Church began operating as the first Catholic Church in Washington. , , The first congregation of Holy Trinity was marked by diversity. Here on a Sunday you would find blacks, some free, some slaves; Irish and German immigrants; and fifth of sixth generation Catholics from Maryland. Many parishioners traveled difficult roads or sailed the Potomac to celebrate long-denied sacraments. , , In 1849-1851 a larger Greco-Roman church was built here on 36th Street. The original church at 3513 N was then used as a convent and parish hall. Renovated in 1999, the 18th-century church kept its original footprint and steeple but created a pristine and modern interior in which to celebrate mass. , , From its inception, Holy Trinity has had a close association with Georgetown University. In the early days, students regularly marched from the campus to Holy Trinity Church for Sunday mass in a uniform described as "plain coat and pantaloons of blue cloth and yellow buttons." They attended a memorial service for President George Washington here when he died in 1799. , , President John F. Kennedy was also a parishioner of this church.