St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church was erected in 1912 and is an excellent example of Late Victorian Romanesque architecture. Built of granite blocks and trim, notable features include a large central tower with a pyramidal roof and an elaborate arched main entrance, two arched doorways on either side of the main entrance, and two smaller towers that are also capped by a pyramidal roof. The grounds also include the original red-brick church built in 1895, the parish school building built in 1926, and the convent built in 1922. St. Elizabeth of Hungary is a parish of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

One of the first owners of the property was a resident named Elizabeth Pappler, who donated it in 1893 for the construction of a church and school building. The structure wasn't built until 1895, however, since the neighborhood was not populated enough in 1893. The building, which was dedicated on November 19, was used as a church, parish hall, and rectory. The area was still mostly undeveloped in 1895 but it began to grow and church membership started to rise as well. By 1902, St. Elizabeth had around 800 members. That year the Sisters of St. Francis arrived to teach in the school, which appears to have opened at this time, and they lived in a house across the street.

When church membership increased to 2,000 by 1908, it was clear that a larger building was needed. The church raised the funds over the next three years and construction began in 1911. Austrian-born architect Robert C. Ullrich designed it as well as many other churches in the Baltimore area. He originally planned a Gothic-style building but the cost for that was too high. The new church was dedicated on May 5, 1912.

The size of the congregation continued to grow, rising to 5,000 members by 1919. School enrollment increased to 1,000 students by then as well. To accommodate the larger number of Sisters who taught in the school, the convent was built in 1922. There were 1,525 students by then.