Eclectic church added to historic register

Mar. 20—OXFORD — A former Catholic church in Oxford has been named a historic building, as the North Carolina Department Natural and Cultural Resources announced in a press release on Tuesday.

The former St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church is, indeed, eclectic — Spanish Eclectic, or a combination of the Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial architectural styles — according to the nomination submitted to the state Historic Preservation Office.

One Heather Slane, a Durham-based architectural historian and principal of historical preservation firm hmwPreservation wrote the nomination.

The Spanish built churches in the Mission style back in the 1700s, generally stucco-covered adobe. The style saw a resurgence in Florida and southwestern states in the early 1900s. Spanish Colonial, also popular in the aforementioned areas, was more often seen on houses and swapped parapets for rounded doors and windows.

It's the only church of its like in Granville, Vance and Person counties.

The church has something of a storied history.

In the early 1900s, Catholics in Granville County visited homes of fellow Catholics and eventually a train car-turned church dubbed St. Peter's Chapel. It was assigned to Oxford in 1942 to serve the growing Catholic population, including those stationed at Camp Butner.

As St. Peter aged and the number of worshippers grew, they saw a need for a new building. So they dismantled the car and sold off the parts to raise cash for the endeavor. They contracted Andrews and McGeady, a Greensboro-based architectural and engineering firm. Construction was completed in 1955.

Local Catholics held services there until the late 1960s, when they left for the newly constructed Church of St. James, located between Oxford and Henderson.

Fast forward a few dozen years. Capital Bank picked the building up around 2017 and hoped to build a branch office. But in order to do that, they would have needed to demolish the building. The community sought to preserve the old church and locals met with Mark Pace, history specialist at Richard H. Thornton Library, and a representative from the bank to share their perspective.

Reportedly, the bank found that it was unfeasible to build a drive-thru on the lot. Regardless, they sold it off to Stuart Paynter, who rehabilitated the Orpheum Theatre into the event space it is today.

Paynter contracted Slane, and the rest is history.

The church's days seem mostly well-documented — but there's one mystery that may never be solved. St. Catherine of Siena is similar to Thomasville's Our Lady of the Highways Catholic Church, which was built in 1953. The two share an architect, after all.

However, the 1933 Saint Jude's Catholic Church in Grifton, built by a different architect, is a member of the nearly identical triplet. Slane theorized the Catholic Church itself might have passed down some sort of plan.

Whether that's true or not is unknown, Slane said. She got up with the Diocese in Charlotte, which didn't have any information either way.

Joining St. Catherine in the field of new additions to the national register are nine other North Carolinian buildings.

"Preserving our past is essential to understanding our present and shaping our future," said Reid Wilson, NCDNCR secretary. "The latest North Carolina additions to the National Register of Historic Places reflect our unwavering commitment to honoring our heritage. Each commemorated location enriches our collective narrative, bolsters local economies, and celebrates the diverse tapestry of our state's history and culture."