St. Mary Help of Christians Church (Aiken, South Carolina)

Infobox religious building
building_name = St. Mary Help of Christians Church
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location =Aiken, South Carolina
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religious_affiliation =Roman Catholic
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district =Diocese of Charleston

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website = http://www.stmarys-aiken.org
architecture = yes
architect = McMurphy & Story
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architecture_style =Gothic Revival
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year_completed = 1880 - St. Claire's
1905 - St. Mary
construction_cost =$17,000 - St. Mary
specifications =yes
capacity = 248
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spire_quantity = 1
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nrhp = yes
added =March 25 1982
refnum = 82003827
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St. Mary Help of Christians Church is a Roman Catholic church at the corner of Park Avenue and York Street in Aiken, South Carolina. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The site has St. Claire's Chapel and St. Mary Help of Christians Church.

In 1867, the parish church was constructed on this site. This small building was destroyed by a tornado in 1878. A winter resident of Aiken, Celestine E. Eustis, helped with funds to build a new church.

t. Claire's Chapel

St. Claire's Chapel is a brick Gothic Revival chapel in the Early English Style that was constructed in 1879-1880. Local tradition says that it was designed by James Renwick, Jr., who designed St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Smithsonian Institution Building. This is plausible because Miss Eustis was the aunt of W.W. Corcoran's grandchildren, and Renwick had designed buildings for Corcoran in Washington, D.C..

The chapel has a steeply pitched gabled, slate roof. It has a rosewood altar. It has three painted glass windows done by Nicolas Lorin in Chartres, France, who had also produced St. Patrick's Founder's Window that had been designed by Renwick. [http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/aiken/S10817702014/S10817702014.pdf NRHP Nomination Form.] [http://www.cambridge2000.com/gallery/html/P31819140e.html St Patricks Cathedral: Founders Window.]

t. Mary Help of Christians Church

The church is a large, brick church in the late Gothic Revival style with elements of the Decorated Gothic style. It was designed by McMurphy & Story in Augusta, Georgia. It has a steeply pitched roof and rectangular nave. The facade has a gabled central section flanked by two towers. One tower has a pitched roof. The other has a tall, white spire with a gold cross. The rectangular nave has a timbered roof. It has stained-glass windows in Florentine arches.

Gustave Doré's Madonna

The vestibule of St. Mary Help of Christians Church has a life-size bronze statue of the Madonna and Child by Gustave Doré. This statue, which was cast in the 1880's was donated to the Church in 1947 by Beatrice Kinney Lamantagne, another winter resident of Aiken.

Pictures and additional information are available from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. [ [http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/aiken/S10817702014/index.htm South Carolina Department of Archives and History] ]

References