St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church, Convent, and School

The St. Vincent DePaul Church in Pontiac, Michigan is a well preserved example of late nineteenth-century Catholic Church architecture in the Gothic Revival style. St. Vincent's is the earliest, thus-far documented, Catholic church by architects Donaldson & Meier of Detroit, who designed at least two dozen Catholic churches in Detroit over a thirty-year period, including many structures important from an architectural standpoint. The St. Vincent Church complex is important as the home of a congregation and parish dating back to 1851. Many of the early parish members, in the early 1900's were major figures in the founding and growth of the automotive industry and paid keen interest to the growth and development of St. Vincent DePaul Church and St. Frederick School.

The St. Vincent DePaul Church complex on Wide Track Drive (formerly Parke Street), just south of downtown Pontiac, Michigan contains an interesting variety of structures which portray the growth and prosperity of Pontiac's oldest Catholic parish between 1885 and 1926. The complex is comprised of five main structures including St. Vincent's Church (1885), Rectory (1895 and later remodeled), St. Thomas Hall (1911 and later remodeled and expanded), St. Frederick School (1923) and the Convent (1926). While the church is an important example of nineteenth-century Catholic church architecture by Donaldson and Meier of Detroit, each of the other four structures in the complex were also originally designed by Donaldson and Meier. The buildings are located close to each other and are all built of brick with cut stone detail. While the church is built in the Gothic Revival style of architecture, St. Frederick School and the Convent were built in what has become known as Collegiate Gothic (or a variation thereof). The architectural detail and materials of the structures blend together magnificently. The nomination includes only three structures in the complex. Those three buildings are St. Vincent DePaul Church, St. Frederick's School and the Convent (now known as the Haven). These structures retain their original architectural integrity, while the Rectory and St. Thomas Hall have been completely altered and do not now resemble their original form. Together, the buildings in the entire church complex portray the prosperity and growth of the parish between the 1880's and the 1960's.