Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church
1425 V Street, NW
Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church began in 1858 when African American congregants of the Saint Matthews Church departed to organize their own day school. The group raised funds—even held an event on the White House lawn—and eventually constructed a school and a chapel on 15th Street, north of I Street. Opening in 1866, the Blessed Martin de Porres School and Chapel soon became the center of a separate Black parish, Saint Augustine’s. In 1961 the church merged with the predominantly White Saint Paul’s Church at this corner to form Saints Paul and Augustine Church. Twenty-one years later, the church returned to the name Saint Augustine’s.
[Photo caption:]
St. Augustine's chapel at 15th and I Streets, NW.
St. Augustine Church.
Greater U Street Historic District, DC
Marker is at the intersection of 15th Street and V Street, NW, on 15th Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
