 "Photo: Carlton Koonce/Echo editor-in-chief")
Holy Cross Catholic Church will soon be known as “the little church that moved.”
The brick and mortar edifice will journey from Alston Avenue to 1912 Fayetteville Street, next to the James E. Shepard House.
According to Mike Blake, president of Blake Moving Company, the move is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 23 and 24.
The church is being lifted off its foundation and relocated to make way for N.C. Central University’s new nursing school building and additional parking at the church’s current location.
Holy Cross has been a fixture at 1400 South Alston Avenue since 1953. Its move to Fayetteville Street illustrates NCCU’s desire to hold onto the church’s rich history.
Holy Cross is one of few African American Catholic churches in the Southeast.
NC Catholics, the online magazine of the Catholic diocese of Raleigh, notes that in the early years many members and leaders of the Holy Cross parish would come from the student body of what was then called North Carolina College for Negroes.
Holy Cross was established in the community in 1939 to evangelize the black community Mass was held in makeshift venues until the church found a home on Alston Avenue.
Throughout the years the number of members grew from one black family in 1939 to approximately 350 families today, according to NC Catholics.
With the exception of 3.6 acres, the property surrounding the church was sold to the state to allow NCCU to expand.
The Holy Cross congregation, was relocated to 2438 South Alston Avenue in 2007.
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