Founded in 1891, Saint Lucy's Church was built and sustained through the labor, generosity, and faith of Italian immigrants and their descendants. It long served as the religious and cultural heart of Newark's Little Italy in the old 1st Ward. Designed in Romanesque Revival style by architect Neil Convey, the church was dedicated in 1926 and adorned with an ornate altar, imported statues, stained-glass windows, and huge murals by Gonippo Raggi. It contains the National Shrine of St. Gerard Maiella of Caposele, Italy, an 18th century benefactor of the poor and patron of mothers, whose feast has been celebrated there since 1899 and draws thousands each October for special services and street processions. Saint Lucy's has sponsored a grammar school, a girls' residence, housing developments, a drum and bugle corps, and many community organizations. In more than a century it was led by only three pastors: Msgr. Joseph Perotti, Rev. Gaetano Ruggiero, and Msgr. Joseph Granato. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.