Washington, D.C. Photo - Basilica of The National Shrine of The Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C.

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is neither imitative nor duplicative of any other church in the world. Its architecture is Romanesque-Byzantine in style and its construction is entirely of stone, brick, tile and mortar without steel structural beams, framework or columns. In 1847, at the petition of the bishops of the United States, Pope Pius IX named the Blessed Virgin Mary patroness of the United States under the title of the Immaculate Conception. In 1913, Pope Pius X approved plans for the building of a national shrine in the United States, and made a personal contribution for its construction. The cornerstone of the National Shrine was laid in 1920. The first Mass was held on Easter Sunday 1924. 1n 1926, the Crypt Church was completed. The remainder of the Crypt level was completed in 1931. The Depression and World War II halted construction of the Shrine's Great Upper Church superstructure. With the end of World War II and the prosperity of the post war years, construction resumed in the Marian Year of 1954. The superstructure or the Great Upper Church was completed in 1959. The National Shrine was dedicated on November 20, 1959.

Credit line: Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.