For our first research paper we were assigned to find a building, and describe it in such a way that the reader could picture the building like they were standing right in front of it. I spent a weekend driving around staking out potential buildings. I took pictures, noted unique characteristics, building materials, window placement, etc. When I got home none of the buildings really caught my eye. They were all interesting, however, I had a hard time describing why they were unique. It wasn't until the following day on my way to class that I found my building. I was driving on 195 from Mattapoisett, when I noticed a huge steeple sticking out from behind the new Market Basket in New Bedford. The next day, I took my camera and headed out to find the building. The name of the church I found is St. Anthony of Padua, located on 1395 Acushnet Ave. Before I describe the building let me give a brief history of the church. .
St. Anthony's was built in 1895 and was designed by Joseph Venne. Venne was a Canadian architect of the late 19th to early 20th Century. The church was constructed to serve the French Canadian Catholics who lived in the North End of New Bedford.
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Standing in front of the church, I was surprised by the size of the building. I knew it was big, however looking straight up at the main steeple, it appeared to disappear into the clouds. Upon doing some research, I learned that the tallest steeple reaches 256 feet. On top of the steeple was a gold plated bronze cross that stands 19ft in height. Walking around the building i noticed that the entire structure was built using brick. I looked it up, and the building was built from red sandstone that was brought in from the Springfield area. The large reddish bricks are laid in a common brick pattern all the way to the top. The last three rows at the top are also laid in a common brick pattern, but the bricks become smaller and switch off between red and white.
