More about St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas was designed by Patrick Charles Keely, the preeminent Catholic church architect in the US in the 19th century. It was dedicated in 1873. The tall, narrow campanile seen in the 1910 church is rare in Keely’s work and indeed, in Boston Catholic churches overall.

The entire face of the building was torn off and replaced by the Art Deco Gothic design (probably by Maginnis and Walsh) about 1916. St Thomas really cannot be said to be a Keely-designed church any longer.

Left: post card ca 1910. Right BPL Prints and photographs, 1940. Provided courtesy of Richard Heath