Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Atlanta)

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a Roman Catholic church in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The current building, at the intersection of Peachtree Street and Peachtree Center Avenue, was completed in 1898. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and was designated a minor basilica in 2010. The church traces its origins to 1880, when the parish of Saints Peter and Paul was established to cover the northern part of the city. In 1897, the Marist Fathers took over responsibility for the parish and began constructing the current church, which was designed by Walter T. Downing with elements of French Romanesque and Romanesque Revival architecture. It was dedicated the following year as the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, leading to the new name of the parish. The church saw steady growth during its first few decades and by 1917 was one of the largest parishes operated by the Marists. This group returned operation of the church to the Archdiocese of Atlanta in the 1960s. In the following decades, the area around the church went through a period of decline, and there were concerns that the church would close. However, it continued to operate and saw a growth in its congregation. In 1995, Mother Teresa attended Mass at the church and the building celebrated its 100th anniversary three years later. By 2010, the church had a congregation of about 1,300 families, and it is one of the few buildings constructed around the turn of the 20th century that is still standing in Atlanta.

In the late 1800s, the population of Atlanta increased as the city's development grew northward from its downtown. With this growth came an increased demand from Catholics for a church in the northern part of the city, which at the time was within the parish served by the Church of the Immaculate Conception. On February 28, 1880, Bishop William Hickley Gross of the Diocese of Savannah established a new parish for the area known as the parish of Saints Peter and Paul. This parish, which was carved out of territory that had previously been served by Immaculate Conception, covered all of the city north of Edgewood Avenue, the Georgia Railroad, and the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Soon after its formation, a wooden structure was quickly erected on Marietta Street to serve as the parish's church building. The year of its formation, this parish had about 250 members in its congregation. The parish saw its first baptism on April 6 1880, and later that year the Sisters of Mercy established a parish school that had about 125 students. However, the school closed in 1892 due to financial difficulties.

In 1897, Bishop Thomas Albert Andrew Becker of Savannah asked the Marist Fathers to help in the diocese's efforts in Atlanta and its missions in north Georgia, a territory that covered approximately 9,500 square miles (25,000 km2). The Marists accepted on May 12 and by the following month had appointed a new pastor for the parish. Upon taking over operations for Saints Peter and Paul, they determined that the current buildings were in poor condition and in an unsuitable location, and they began to plan the construction of a new church. On July 14, they spent $12,000 to purchase land at the corner of Peachtree Street and Ivy Street for this new building, which was to be designed by Walter T. Downing, an Atlanta-based architect. The Marists began a fundraising campaign for the new church and raised $10,851. Construction commenced in September, with Mass continuing to be held in the wooden building until the new building was completed. Work on the new building lasted until 1898, and the cost significantly exceeded the amount that had been raised by the Marists. On May 1 1898, the newly completed church building was dedicated by B

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