Architectural historian John Gomez will explore the rich architectural history of Hoboken’s sacred spaces in this engaging lecture on the city’s historic places of worship. From grand Gothic Revival structures to more modest parish buildings, Hoboken’s houses of worship reflect the diverse communities that shaped the city’s development. Gomez will examine how architectural styles, materials, and design choices conveyed meaning, identity, and tradition within these sacred spaces. The talk will highlight notable churches throughout Hoboken, offering insight into their history, craftsmanship, and the role they have played in neighborhood life. Through images and historical context, attendees will gain a deeper appreciation for the architectural and cultural significance of these enduring landmarks.

John Gomez is an urban architectural historian and preservationist who has been active in Jersey City and Hudson County since 1992 when he got involved with the spirited battle to save the Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Journal Square — a 1929 movie palace landmark saved by the Friends of the Loew’s and scheduled to reopen this fall after several years of intricate restoration. Inspired by his friend and mentor Theodore Conrad (1910-1994), he went on to advocate for the preservation of the 1906 Majestic Theatre in the Van Vorst Park Historic District of Downtown Jersey City (1994); the 1922 State Theatre in Journal Square (1998); the Civil War-era Lembeck-Betz Brewery, right outside the Holland Tunnel (1999); the 1909 Bergen Arches, an abandoned railroad cut north of Journal Square (1999); the 1905 Ogden Avenue Bridge over the vintage cobblestones of Holland Street, in the Heights section of Jersey City (2000); Reservoir No. 3 (2002), also in the Heights; the Van Wagenen House, in Bergen Square (2002); the 1911 Jersey City Woman’s Club (2002) in the West Bergen section of Jersey City; and the 1924 Church of the Sacred Heart (2008) on MLK Drive in Jersey City’s Greenville neighborhood, among dozens of other endangered architectural and cultural heritage sites throughout Hudson County.

In 1999 he organized and established the non-profit Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy (jclandmarks.org) on the eve of his panoramic preservation crusade for the 1908 Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse, on the skyscraper-enveloped Jersey City waterfront — a fight reenergized in 2025 as the Save the Powerhouse community campaign and movement. John gave his first talk at the Hoboken Historical Museum in 2003 for its groundbreaking exhibition The Tubes, followed by lectures on Hudson County’s forgotten role in the early moving picture industry, the singular modernist architecture of the Holland Tunnel’s ventilation towers, and the use of archival maps as revelatory architectural research.

He holds a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, and he is an adjunct lecturer of urban architecture at St. Peter’s University. From 2004 to 2025 he wrote a regular column on architecture and preservation for The Jersey Journal newspaper, and in 2014 he published Legendary Locals of Jersey City to highlight Jersey City legends and landmarks across four centuries of urban time. In 2026 he started a deep research and photographic project on Hoboken’s historic sacred spaces, with this presentation being the first in a planned series at the museum.

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