Marius Rousseau, an architect so versatile that it would be hard to assign a style to him, designed this church,1 whose onion domes are one of the characteristic features of Rankin as seen from the Rankin Bridge.
A crucifix in memory of a longtime priest, the Very Rt. Rev. Stephen Varzaly, sits in the front yard of the church.
Philadelphia Real Estate Record & Builders’ Guide, July 17, 1907: “At Rankin, Allegheny county, St. Michael’s Greek Catholic congregation will erect a church. M. Rousseau, Fulton Building, Pittsburg, Pa., is the architect. It will be well finished throughout, church furniture and fixtures, open plumbing, steam heat, electric lights and the usual modern conveniences.” ↩︎
Of all Titus de Bobula’s remaining works, this is the building that most astonishes architectural historians—the one architects study in their history classes—and we are pleased to say that it has had a good bit of money spent to stabilize and adapt it to its life as the National Carpatho-Rusyn Cultural and Educational Center. For a long time it was the cathedral of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy, until a new cathedral was built in a more suburban section of Munhall.
“Architect: de Bobula. Contractor: Bodine and Co. MCMIII.”
Titus de Bobula himself designed this plaque, as we can tell because the lettering is in his own very distinctive hand—the same style of lettering he used to sign his drawings. It was not common for architects to put their names on their buildings, but Titus de Bobula was not a common architect.
The rectory has been decaying, and we hope there will be enough money to carry the rehabilitation of the church into the rectory. They were built as a set, and Bobula’s rendering of the pair shows that the rectory was originally designed for a slightly higher budget. The places where it was cheapened are precisely the parts that are decaying now.
From the Czechoslovak Review, January, 1920 (but it is clearly De Bobula’s original rendering); found at Wikimedia Commons.
Some of the wooden porch columns have been lost; the ones that remain are getting crumbly.
Old Pa Pitt will admit that Braddock can be a sad place, but here is something to celebrate. This historic Black congregation is still going after nearly a century and a half, and its neat little building is beautifully kept.
The cornerstone of the building was laid late in 1906, when the Rev. Dr. J. T. Wanzer was pastor. The architect of the church was John Lewis Beatty,1 who was one of our most successful designers of Protestant churches. In this case the budget was small, but Mr. Beatty gave the congregation a building to be proud of. Certain economies were necessary: only the front is stone, the rest being ordinary red brick. But that front leaves an impression of solid respectability.
The Pittsburg Press used to publish an extensive column of “Afro-American Notes,” and in the edition for December 17, 1905 we find a paragraph about the plans for New Hope’s new building:
The New Hope Baptist Church of Braddock, Pa., is undoubtedly one of the most progressive churches in Braddock. They are making great preparations to begin their new building in the early spring. The Rev. J. T. Wanzer deserves great credit for the good work he is doing for the upbuilding of religious Christianity among the negro race. He is without doubt a good worker. Services every Sunday morning at 11 a. m. and evening at 7:30 p. m. All are welcome.
It was not always easy being Black in Braddock. While the plans for the church were in preparation, two of its most prominent members had a run-in with a gang of “hoodlums,” as we read in the Press:
Much bad feeling is being engendered by a gang of hoodlums, who infest the corner of Fourth street and Hawkins avenue, North Braddock, and attack negroes. Last night Reuben Poles and James Price, the former a trustee of the New Hope Baptist Church, colored, of Braddock, and the latter superintendent of the Sunday School, while on their way home from a church meeting, were called vile names, followed for several squares by five fellows, all over 20 years of age, and finally attacked. Poles was beaten into insensibility with a beer bottle.2
As we see from the language of the Press report, which describes the assailants as an infestation, most respectable citizens were disgusted and appalled by such “hoodlums.” But they were a fact that Black residents of the borough had to deal with. Undaunted, the members of New Hope finished their church—and they are still here, 120 years later, worshiping in the same building.
The addition to the left is well matched to the main church; it was probably built in the 1920s or 1930s.
“Will Build Churches,” Press, October 30, 1906, p. 7: “J. A. House, of West Homestead, has the contract for building the New Hope Baptist Church at that place, to cost $14,000. It was designed by Architect J. L. Beatty.” Though the article says the church is in West Homestead, that is an error. The Post for the same day mentions the contract, but leaves out the architect, and places the church correctly in Braddock. Notes of the Builders, Post, October 30, 1906, p. 13: “A two-story brick and stone church for the New Hope Baptist Church of Braddock, to cost $14,000, will be built by Contractor J. A. House, of West Homestead.” ↩︎
Two Lutheran churches about a block apart—but different kinds of Lutherans, of course.
First is St. John’s, which was designed by the phenomenally successful J. C. Fulton of Uniontown.1 A 1926 Sanborn map shows it with a wooden octagonal dome, one of Fulton’s favorite details; the dome was later replaced with whatever we call the thing that replaced it. The building is now in use as the Restoration Community Church.
The smaller Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church was built for a Missouri Synod congregation in 1929. The charming and timeless design was by Fisher & Schmertz.2 This church was most recently occupied by the New Covenant Christian Fellowship, but that congregation seems to have dissolved.
Every time old Pa Pitt sees a bell still dangling in a belfry, he wants to hear it ring.
Pittsburg Press, February 6, 1906: “The St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran congregation of Swissvale is having plans made by J. C. Fulton, of Uniontown.” ↩︎
“Break Ground for Church Tomorrow,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, August 10, 1929, p. 5. ↩︎
A. Vernon, based across the river in Homestead, was the architect of this church, built in 1907 for a Croatian parish.1 The steep lot required the architect to make some interesting adaptations, setting the building on a stone platform so that the basement is at ground level on the downhill side. For a while after the congregation left, the building was a restaurant and wine bar, but it was up for sale when old Pa Pitt visited. It is in good shape, and would make a good restaurant again, or a fine studio for some artist.
Philadelphia Real Estate Record & Builders’ Guide, April 24, 1907: “At Rankin, Allegheny county, the Slavish Roman Catholic congregation will erect a church, to cost $30,000. Bids will be received after April 25th. A. Vernon, Eighth avenue, Homestead, Pa., is the architect.” ↩︎
The cornerstone of this church was laid in 1959, which for the moment is all old Pa Pitt knows about it. The style is the New England Colonial that became popular to the point of mania among suburban congregations with conservative tastes after the Second World War, and this is a tasteful and attractive example of it.
This church was built in 1897 for a congregation known as the East End Presbyterian Church. The architect was E. B. Milligan of Wilkinsburg. The congregation later became known as the Waverly Presbyterian Church (because it was on Waverly Street), which in 1929 built a much larger church a few blocks away. The Refuge Church of God in Christ now lives in this building.
An illustration published when the church was dedicated in 1897 shows a cap on the tower that has since disappeared.
The stone porch is the most remarkable thing about this church; it seems to lift the whole building out of the residential streets around it and into a different world.
Now the Homewood Church of Christ, a congregation that keeps the building in beautiful shape. Old Pa Pitt was out walking in Homewood a while ago when he spotted this church two blocks away. He immediately thought, “That looks like a Lutheran church designed by O. M. Topp.”
And so it was.1 The cornerstone, as we see, was laid in 1916, at a time when O. M. Topp was the favorite architect of Lutherans in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. Lutheran churches from before the Second World War have a characteristic traditional church shape, like Catholic and Episcopalian churches but unlike the majority of Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist churches in our area. O. M. Topp’s designs for medium-sized churches like this one have a straightforward Gothic simplicity that marks them as his work.
Note the rectangular windows where most Gothic architects would place Gothic arches.
Source: Pittsburg Press, April 23, 1916, p. 20 “O. M. Topp has been selected to prepare plans for the rebuilding of a $40,000 church at Hamilton and Brushton aves., for the St. Stephens’ Evangelical Lutheran congregation.” ↩︎
Ingham & Boyd designed this beautiful church for a congregation that is still hanging on, now yoked with Swissvale Presbyterian Church. When they were built, though, the churches served different denominations: this one was a congregation of the United Presbyterians, a Pittsburgh-based splinter group that broke off from the main body of Presbyterians in the United States in 1858 and would later merge with them again in 1958, one century and two days after the split.
Every detail of this church is chosen both for its own exquisite beauty and for its contribution to the composition as a whole. Nothing is out of place.
As the cornerstone tells us, the church was built in 1915. Ingham & Boyd usually worked in a classical style for public buildings, such as their dozens of schools; but their relatively few churches are Gothic, and buildings like this one make us wish they had given us more churches.
Siting a building is an art in itself, and one to which Ingham & Boyd paid particular attention. This church looms in the distance as we come eastward on Biddle Avenue like a heavenly vision.
The view is different coming northward on Hay Street: here we are confronted by what looks like an English village.
With a long lens, we can appreciate the woodwork in these dormers.
