St. Leo's Church is a historic Roman Catholic church complex located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Little Italy, Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is the 'core' of the neighborhood. Description The church was built in 1880-81 of brick with stone trim, and combines Italianate, Romanesque, and Classical elements. It features a high entrance porch, a turret with conical roof on the north wall, a square bell tower at the northeast corner, a large rose window in the main façade, and a variety of decorative brickwork. It was the first church in Maryland, and among the first in the nation, founded and built specifically for Italian immigrants. The church was designed by Baltimore architect E. Francis Baldwin. St. Leo's Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It houses an 1881 historic Niemann pipe organ. "OUR HISTORY" from saintleorcc.com Along with their skimpy possessions, a few lira and scruffy travel cases, the Italians also brought to America their sturdy Catholic faith. Once settled in Baltimore, they needed and wanted to put into action an even deeper devotion to God. They asked the Almighty Father to help them with homesickness, find employment, and adjust to a new way of life in a strange land. The cornerstone of St. Leo's Church laid on September 12, 1880, at the northwest corner represented a concept much more significant over the next 136 years than a chunk of concrete. For not only did that cornerstone provide a tangible foundation for the church's physical structure, it also provided an emotional foundation for the Italians. Truly, St. Leo's Church has been the nucleus of Little Italy since it was built, and that notion persists today. Many former residents of Little Italy say that one never really moves out of the neighborhood. As well, one can hardly shake a loyalty for St. Leo's parish – it runs through people's veins as much as their Italian ethnicity. The congregation of St. Leo's is a classic depiction of famiglia. St. Leo's Church is significant both architecturally and for its association with 19th-century Italian immigration and the establishment of Baltimore's Italian community. It is the first church in Maryland, and among the first in the nation, founded and built specifically for Italian immigrants. Besides housing Masses said in Italian, it sponsored a variety of social, humanitarian, and civic programs aimed at acclimating Italian immigrants to life in