The 2nd Oldest Catholic Church in Atlanta,GA

Sacred Heart, Atlanta

Sacred Heart, Atlanta

Sacred Heart Parish was founded in 1880. The original church, known as Saints Peter and Paul, was a small wooden building located at the southwest corner of Marietta and Alexander Streets, twelve blocks west of the present location. When the area became too commercial, parishioners made plans to purchase a new site and build a church "at some distance from the business district".

In 1897, an Atlanta architect, W. T. Downing, was commissioned to design the new church. In keeping with the then popular devotion to the Sacred Heart, the name of the church was changed to "The Sacred Heart of Jesus". The architectural style is basically French Romanesque, with some variations and additions.

On May 13, 1976, the Church of the Sacred Heart was entered in the National Register of Historic Places, in recognition of its "artistically significant architecture".