St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook

The initial location of Saint Charles Seminary was the home of Bishop Kenrick on Fifth Street in Philadelphia. Circumstances required the subsequent relocation of the Seminary to the northwest corner of Fifth and Prune Streets, then to Saint Mary’s Rectory on Fourth Street, and eventually to the southeast corner of Eighteenth and Race Streets in Philadelphia. For an eleven-year period the preparatory division of the Seminary was located at Glen Riddle in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The preparatory program consisted at that time of what is equivalent to today’s last two years of high school and four years of college. The high school program was discontinued in 1968.
In 1863 Archbishop James F. Wood made the first of three purchases of the property that today comprises the campus of Overbrook. In September, 1871, the preparatory college and theology divisions were reunited on the present campus. In December, 1875, the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception was formally dedicated by Archbishop Wood. Subsequent Archbishops of Philadelphia have initiated improvements on the Seminary campus. Archbishop Patrick J. Ryan began the building of the library. Archbishop Edmond Prendergast oversaw the building of a student residence hall. Dennis Cardinal Dougherty sponsored the construction of the college building. John Cardinal O’Hara added an indoor swimming pool to the physical assets of the Seminary. In 1971, under the leadership of John Cardinal Krol, a residence hall and multi-purpose building dedicated to Saint John Vianney was constructed. The buildings that make up the current Theology Division along with the Ryan Memorial Library stand at the western end of campus. The Seminary college is located at the eastern end. In 1991, Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua instituted the Spirituality Year Program to further enhance the program of priestly formation at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary.