Blue Chapel
monastery in Union City, Hudson County, New Jersey
The Monastery of the Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary, known as the Blue Chapel, is a former monastery in Union City, Hudson County, New Jersey, in the United States. It takes its name from the blue tinted windows that were part of the original chapel. Since being abandoned in 2008, the structures and grounds of the complex, which include a cemetery, face an uncertain future.
History
In 1891, Father Damien-Marie Saintourens of the Order of Preachers came from France and was joined by nuns in what was then West Hoboken, New Jersey where they established the American branch of Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary. Between 1912 and 1914 the Gothic Revival complex was built as the first monastery in the United States dedicated to the recitation of the Perpetual Rosary. The Passionist fathers of St. Michael's Monastery and Church acted served as chaplains at the chapel's services. Twenty-one other centers were later established across the country.
Adornments included art work created by former resident Sister Mary of the Compassion. and stained glass windows originally thought to have been imported from Germany, but discovered in 2012 to have been created in Buffalo, New York by stained glass artist Leo P. Frohe (1851 - 1919) of Buffalo Glass Works in the spirit of the historic Munich School style.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Blue Chapel” as monastery in Union City, Hudson County, New Jersey. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as monastery in Union City, Hudson County, New Jersey. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4928956. Authority coordinates are 40.761, -74.038. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2008, 1891, 1912 and 1914.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Blue Chapel”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Blue Chapel primary sources, Blue Chapel archive and Blue research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Blue Chapel”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Blue Chapel” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.