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| St. Richard Church/school building, 1933. | Main altar of church, 1933. | Side altar of church, 1933. |
St. Richard, Hill District
St. Richard was established in 1894. The origins of the parish are not well documented. The parish was formed in response to the growth of population in the Hill District in the spring of 1894. Land for the church was purchased in May of that year and ground was broken in June. A temporary church was built and dedicated on October 7, 1894. This church served the community for more than a decade, but eventually the congregation outgrew it. Work on a new combined church and school building began in 1907 and the completed church was dedicated on May 24, 1908. The first floor of the building served as a temporary church and the upper floor as a school. The intention was that a separate church building would be constructed.
That new church was never built. The temporary church served the parish throughout its existence. As the century progressed, the original population of the Hill District began to move out. Eventually, the Catholic population of the Hill District was not large enough to support the number of parishes in existence. In 1977, the diocese made the decision to merge St. Richard parish with St. Brigid-St. Benedict the Moor parish. The parish was officially suppressed on July 1, 1977. The church portion of the building was converted to class rooms to house the Hill District Catholic School.
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| St. Richard Church/school building, 1933. | Main altar of church, 1933. | Side altar of church, 1933. |
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