Saint Jerome Church – Campus and Neighborhood

VIDEO to introduce you to the tour
BOOKLET for the Saint Jerome Church (Campus and Neighborhood) walking tour
Private GROUP TOUR (COSTS) is one hour long for this Saint Jerome Church (Campus and Neighborhood) walking tour. It is fully outdoors. Also a one hour indoor presentation can be given.
A free public tour comes up every five years.
A self-tour is available for anyone using the maps and text seen below. – LOCATION
Churches of Holyoke

stops	name	notes	LINKS
1	Saint Jerome Church	church	LINK
2	Saint Jerome Rectory	rectory	LINK
3	William Whiting School	school	LINK
4	Notre Dame Convent	convent	LINK
5	Saint Patrick’s Chapel	church	LINK
6	Saint Jerome’s Institute	school	LINK
7	Convent of the Sisters of Saint Joseph	convent	LINK
8	Father Harkins Home for Elderly Women	home	LINK
9	House of Providence Charity Home	hospital	LINK
10	Providence School of Nursing	hospital	LINK
11	Providence Maternity Home	hospital	LINK
12	Notre Dame School	school	LINK
13	Hampden Park Historic District	park	LINK

stop 9 – House of Providence Charity Home

House of Providence Charity Home opened in South Hadley in 1873. It is still there located on Crescent Lane. It was the first Catholic hospital in Western Massachusetts ever. It was at first called the Asylum of the House of Providence and was staffed by the Sisters of Charity of Providence at the parish house of St Patrick’s Chapel. From 1875 to 1878 it was again a hospital – a contagion hospital.

The House of Providence Charity Home opened in Holyoke the next year – 679 Dwight Street (the Parsons House at the corner of Dwight and Elm). It was a wooden structure until 1893 when a three story brick structure was built directly in front of that home.

In 1940 a pharmacy and a laboratory were opened behind the hospital.

All was run by the Sisters of Providence. Superiors were:

Sr Mary Agatha	1896	1898
Sr Mary Anthony	1908
Sr Mary Visitation	1917

stop 10 – Providence School of Nursing

To the east of the hospital was a home. This home was bought by Harkins in 1872 for his family. At first his sister, and then later his brother and parents lived there. His brother Daniel had a dentist office in the home. In 1912 the last of his family died and by the next year it was turned into a nurse’s home. In 1916 a day care or nursery was started in the home. This was the 10th nursery in the entire state of Massachusetts. The nursery was started by the Saint Agnes Guild of Saint Jerome. By 1919 it moved to the James Newton home on Chestnut Street. LINK

In 1900 the Providence School of Nursing opens at the Joseph Skinner home at the corner of Elm and Essex. Skinner had moved to his summer home in South Hadley and donated his home to the hospital. They used it to train and house the nurses. The new Providence School of Nursing opened in 1938 at the same location and remained opened until 1971 (266 Elm Street). The Providence Hospital moved to Northampton Street in 1958 and the old one torn down.

stop 11 – Providence Maternity Home

The Charles Ranlet home at the corner of Chestnut and Dwight (121 Dwight Street) became the Nurses’ Home in 1913. Charles Ranlet was the president of the Hadley Falls National Bank. The house would soon become the Providence Maternity Home. Thus this entire southern edge of the block was devoted to medical needs.

Next along the block was a dentist’s home. It was between the Ranlet home and Holyoke Catholic. This was the home of Daniel Murlless. Murlless had his dentist office at the southwest corner of Maple and Essex which also functioned as a dental supply company. He had many patents including ones for a dental dam and a dental bridge.

Stop 13 – Hampden Park Historic District

The totality of Veteran’s Park and the Saint Jerome Church Campus are now on the National Register of Historic Places under the name Hampden Park Historic District. For a complete discussion of this area click on the stop 13 underlined link above.

Other churches were started in Holyoke with Saint Jerome as the mother church. Sacred Heart, St Patrick’s in South Hadley, and Holy Cross are all direct ancestors of St Jerome. Rosary, Saint Anne in Chicopee, Blessed Sacrament, and Holy Name are indirect. Some would start schools like St Jerome’s did but none would have the full program and great impact of St Jerome’s Church.

Brightside and Ingleside were offshoots of St Jerome. Read about them at the LINK.

St Jerome’s Church was the most complete parish in the old Springfield Diocese. There was no institution that could be formed that was not formed. Its parish priest Patrick Harkins and its strong congregation formed a church campus without rival in the area.

Harkins was made Permanent Rector of Saint Jerome’s Church in 1892. In 1904 the pope conferred the title of Prothonotary Apostolic instar.