Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 09/11/2002
NRHP Listing Date 11/20/2002
NRHP Reference Number 02001368
Church of the Sacred Heart, designed by architect Joseph Hubert McGuire (1865–1947), is a one-and–a-half-story, brick, Romanesque Revival-style church completed in 1901. Home of the oldest Roman Catholic parish in Manchester, it is surrounded by a complex of complementary parish buildings, including a school and the rectory. The church is a testament to the power of its patrons, Thomas Fortune Ryan and his wife, Ida Mary Barry Ryan. Ryan, a native Virginian, financier, and patron of the arts, donated more than $20 million to Roman Catholic causes. To design the Church of the Sacred Heart, Ryan chose McGuire, a student of the École des Beaux Arts in Paris and also his choice to design Richmond’s Cathedral of the Sacred Heart as well as the Church of the Sacred Heart in Suffern, New York. The Ryans’ gift to the Manchester area represents the monumental benefactions made to churches and universities by the barons of American industry and finance at the turn of the 20th century.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: September 22, 2021
