St Valentine’s Church and School, USA

St Valentine’s Church and School was an abandoned religious and educational centre in the USA. I visited this location in the spring of 2018, during the second half of a long tour around the east coast of America. At the time of my visit, the church and school had lain abandoned for just over 10 years.

The main area of interest for me, was the church area. A simple wooden crucifix on a podium stood at the far side of the room. The peeling paint on the ceiling added some interest to the otherwise plain room. The hall was filled with many wooden pews, each pew end featured a small carved cross. The white columns that support the roof featured small gold-painted crosses at the top (I only noticed these while editing the photos several years after my visit!).

History of St Valentine’s Church and School

In the 1920s, this area of the city was predominately Irish-American. There were numerous churches to cater to this community. Additionally, there was a small but growing Polish-American group who felt it was time to build a church which offered a better fit for their beliefs. They built the St Valentine’s Church and School, which served the community for almost 25 years.

In the mid-2000s, the city diocese announced plans to reorganise and consolidate the parishes. As congregations merged, some churches were closed down. As a result of this restructuring, the St Valentine’s Church and School closed. The newly merged parish was given authority to decide on the disposition of the closed churches that were now surplus to requirement. The church and school were put up for sale, and were purchased by a development company a few years later. The buildings sat empty for 12 years, before being finally leased.

Renovation and re-opening as a new academy in 2021

In 2021, renovation work was completed. This location is now in use as a tuition free academy!