It is traditional to paint onion domes blue like the heavens, or to gild them if the congregation is feeling rich. But Homestead was known for one thing, so these domes are glimmering Homestead stainless steel.
This church was designed by Button & McLean, who also designed yesterday’s Homestead Senior High School. The Button of the pair was Lamont Button, whom we have met as a designer of high-class houses for the upper middle classes. Ground was broken in 1936, but the church got stuck at the basement level. It remained stuck until 1949, when the job was finally finished.1
This grand Byzantine church, built in 1923, is set on a steep slope on an implausibly tiny street. Its congregation is still going: for cultural and administrative reasons, Eastern churches tend to continue long after their Western neighbors have thrown in the towel. The church itself was modeled after the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, which also served as the model for St. John the Baptist in Munhall; but the architect of this one, W. Ward Williams,1 took his model more literally than Titus de Bobula did. Curiously enough the church in Ukraine has the same kind of slope to deal with, as we see in this picture by Raimond Spekking:
The pediment is strictly classical, Doric rather than the Corinthian of its model, with the inscription “Russian Greek Catholic Church of SS. Peter and Paul.”
Source: Proposals, Pittsburg Press, May 26, 1922, p. 38. “Proposals are invited from building contractors for the erection of a fireproof church building to be erected for SS. Peter and Paul Greek Catholic church. George st., Braddock, Pa. Bids are to be made on forms as furnished by the Architect, W. Ward Williams…” In the original version of the article, we did not know the architect, but a lucky item buried in a correspondence from David Schwing sent us on a long chase, and we finally cornered Mr. Williams. ↩︎
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.
