243 North Prospect Street
The
congregation of the North End had grown too large for the buildings, and a
larger church was constructed on Allen Street. St. Josephs was kept as a boys school and convent for the
Sisters of Mercy and was expanded on the west side in 1896.
The original section of the building shows traces of Greek Revival beginnings. The massing of the original structure included an addition off the back. Earlier than 1890[2], the convent constructed a large ell off of the rear addition. Today, all that shows is a ghost of the former addition.
The
building went through enormous transformations throughout its life as a
school. The Greek Revival details
were eradicated in favor of the Romantic Second Empire. A mansard roof was added, and somewhere
along the way, the building lost its large additions. The keystone date is 1896, which is the date of the
remodeling, not the date of original construction.