The late Speaker of the House, "Tip" O'Neill, was a lifelong parishioner and graduated from St. John High School in 1931.

In 1898 the estate of the late Horatio Locke, on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Hollis Street, was purchased for $18,000 as the site for the new church.

In 1930 the third and present rectory was built of yellow brick at 2254 Massachusetts Avenue, on the site of the Woodbridge House, in Prance (Dutch) School Style with Moorish windows.

Work for the new church began on November 30, 1904, with Maginnis, Walsh & Sullivan as architects and Stephen Brennan as builder.

The building permit issued by the city describes the construction as brick, stone and iron.

The beautiful high altar sits under a gorgeous stained glass window depicting the Crucifixion.

The Byzantine design of the top of the tower is reminiscent of the churches of the Ravenna region of Italy.

The front approach has a broad flight of stone stairs extending the entire width of the building.

The lower portion of the facade was treated as an arcade of five arches, supported by marble columns with Ionic capitals.

Due to lack of funding the clerestory, its upper windows and catwalk were eliminated, as was the statue of St. John.

The marble high altar was moved forward from the under the baldacchino, allowing it to be used for the first time in many years due to changes made to the Mass by the Second Vatican Council.

The church's tabernacle, which had been placed on the altar of the Sacred Heart during the rebuilding, was restored to its original grandeur.

The newly renovated and updated church was dedicated by Cardinal Bernard F. Law on December 27, 1998, the feast of St. John The Evangelist.