The parish of St Andrew’s was established in 1918 out of the area covered by Sacred Heart in Roslindale and St. Thomas Aquinas in Jamaica Plain. This church building was designed by the architects O’Connell and Shaw. It was constructed between 1921 and 1924. These architects worked for the Catholic Church on projects throughout New England. Shaw was a graduate of the Harvard School of Design in 1912 and his best known project is the Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade. The dedication was held on May 11, 1924 The steeple of the church was removed in 1978 (due to instability) which gives the building a truncated look at the corner where it used to be. The bell still hangs in the side yard.
The parish was closed in 2000 because of the financial devastation of the sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocesse. The St. Andrew’s School closed in 2005. Bethel AME purchased the complex and opened their doors here in May 2009.
St Andrew’s Rectory (to right of church at 40 Walk Hill Street)
In 1847 Nicholas and Sarah Summers bought the dairy farm that occupied this land from Mr. Clark. They built a large house for themselves in 1873 at the corner of Wachusett and Walk Hill. In 1921 that house was moved further up Walk Hill Street to make room for the new church building. Then it was converted into a rectory for St Andrew’s by the same architects: O’Connell and Shaw.
cross Walk Hill and stand on the opposite side at the corner with Wachusett.