Father Pitt

Still serving its original congregation, now as the Mifflin Avenue United Methodist Church. This church in the Wilkinsburg quarter of Regent Square, a single neighborhood divided among four municipalities, was built in 1923. The architect was Victor A. Rigaumont, who would later become nationally famous as a reliable designer of Art Deco movie palaces. Perhaps we can see a little Hollywood sensibility already in this church: the design is more flamboyant than the usual corner-tower Gothic church, and the huge Gothic arch that includes both the three front entrance doors and the windows above them is more like a set designer’s fantasy Gothic than a pedantically correct interpretation of medieval forms.

Note the signature above this tiny basement door: “V. A. Rigaumont R. A. Architect.”

The education wing was built thirteen years earlier, in 1910; the architects were Wilkinsburg’s own Milligan & Miller. The older building was used as the worship space until the main church was built.