Father Pitt

Tag: Gothic Architecture

German Lutherans in Sharpsburg

Sharpsburg had three Lutheran churches within three blocks. One was English (that one is still going), and two were German, and the two German ones have a curiously intertwined history. Father Pitt will try to piece it together, but anyone from Sharpsburg who can correct his reconstruction is earnestly requested to do so.

The First German Evangelical Lutheran Church (above), which looks like a building from the 1870s or so, was founded by German-speaking immigrants in 1863: Sharpsburg had a large German community in the 1800s. (Old Pa Pitt apologizes, by the way, for the more than usually lush growth of utility cables in these pictures: Sharpsburg is like that.)

The tower originally had a steeple, now vanished, as steeples often do.

The pastor or council of First German alienated a number of members by “enforcement of rules pertaining to association with fraternal organizations.” In 1888, the discontented members left to form their own congregation, St. John’s. They ended up building a fine Romanesque church just a block away from the church they had left.

This has the look of a we’ll-show-them building: it probably dates from the early 1890s, and it was in the most fashionable style the congregation could afford. The tower is quite tall, and originally supported a tall steeple that was hit by lightning and removed in 1930.

The entrance arch is designed to be impressive.

St. John’s had a troubled history. “In the 1930s the Evangelical Church merged with the Reformed Church, and when the recommended type service of the joint church was adopted by St. John’s, we lost members who opposed the change in services.” A church founded by members who walked out of another church may perhaps expect some of them to keep up the old tradition. In the 1936 flood, the church was badly damaged; it suffered a fire in 1956, a month after expensive redecorations. By the time the church closed, it was a member of the United Churches of Christ.

The original First German is also gone now; it closed about fifteen years ago. Now that the congregations are gone, the buildings can be friendly; they both belong to the Sharpsburg Family Worship Center, an Assemblies of God congregation.

April 25, 2023
Grace Methodist Protestant Church, Sharpsburg

Built in 1872, this was the church where H. J. Heinz taught Sunday school. It is an exceptionally well preserved example of the vernacular Gothic churches of the period. The various additions give it an intriguing complexity, including an octagonal protrusion that reminds us of a medieval baptistery.

April 15, 2023
Sharpsburg Presbyterian Church

Here is a flourishing web of utility cables with a Gothic church behind them. The view above is old Pa Pitt’s best attempt at duplicating an old postcard view:

Not much has changed. The roof (originally slate-shingled) has lost the Gothic ornamentation at the top; exterior steps have been removed; the stonework at the top of the tower has been simplified, possibly after some decay or a lightning strike; and the corner entrance has been turned into a window.

This church was built in 1905 in a heavy, stony, romantic Gothic that was already somewhat out of fashion. It gives the impression of being equal parts church and castle. It now belongs to the Northern Area Multi-Services Center, a social-services organization that, to judge by its name, offers more than one service.

Map.

April 12, 2023
Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church, Dormont

This church was built in 1924, and its streamlined Gothic style, in spite of the irregular stonework, carries a whiff of Art Deco. We’ve featured Bethany once before with views from its own side of the street. Here are some pictures from across West Liberty Avenue to give Bethany the honor of being our Easter church this year.

The church’s next-door neighbor is a gas station.

April 9, 2023
Christ English Lutheran Church, Knoxville

Now St. Paul A. M. E. Zion Church. This congregation had money in the 1960s, it would seem; a new sanctuary in 1960s modernist Gothic was grafted on the older Sunday-school and office wing, which is in a stony Jacobean style.

April 5, 2023
Calvary Episcopal Church, Shadyside

Designed by Ralph Adams Cram, this church has a more austere sort of dignity than the architect’s other two works in Pittsburgh, East Liberty Presbyterian and Holy Rosary Catholic. It apparently took some delicate maneuvering to get an Episcopal congregation with low-church sympathies (but lots of money) to accept a Gothic masterpiece.

St. Mark.

St. Luke.

St. Andrew.

Unusually decorative downspouts.

April 1, 2023
Knoxville Baptist Church

Now Iglesia de Cristo León de Judá, the Knoxville Baptist Church was built in 1909; it is a typical small vernacular-Gothic church with some Arts and Crafts details. The attractive indigo paint applied by the current congregation makes it stand out from others of its type.

Fundamentalist Christians in the United States have always had a deep suspicion of stained glass as creeping idolatry, but the Spanish-speaking Evangelical congregations are the most vengefully thorough about it. As soon as they take over an old church building, the stained glass is removed. Usually it is replaced with clear glass, but this congregation has blocked all natural light from entering the building. Photographs of services on line show that the interior is set up like a theater, and natural light would only interfere with the projections and spotlights.

March 29, 2023
Mount Lebanon Baptist Church, Dormont

When Dormont was founded in 1909, its founders wanted to call it “Mount Lebanon,” the historical name of that part of the South Hills. There was some friction, however, with residents to the south of the new borough, who of course later adopted that name themselves. The result was that borough founders picked the nonsensical inside-out-French name “Dormont,” which as far as old Pa Pitt knows is unique in the world. Several institutions in Dormont, however, kept the name “Mount Lebanon,” among them two churches. This one closed in 2013, the same year Dormont’s Presbyterians and Methodists threw in the towel. The building, however, has been kept in good shape. Built in 1930, it is a fine example of the streamlined Gothic influenced by Art Deco that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s.

Vine decorations under the entrance arches.

The sign along West Liberty Avenue matched the stone and style of the building.

March 17, 2023
Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church, Allegheny West

Now Calvary United Methodist Church, this church is known for its stained glass by the Tiffany Studios. It was built in 1892–1895; the architects were Vrydaugh & Shepherd and T. B. Wolfe. The exterior is a feast of elaborate and often playful Gothic detail.

March 14, 2023
St. Mary of Mercy Church

This long-lens view from Mount Washington shows us how architect William P. Hutchins crammed as much church and diocesan office space as possible into a tiny downtown lot. The church was built in 1936 in a part of town that was not the most fashionable at the time, and the location and the Depression probably account for the general modesty of the structure. But within its modest limits, it certainly makes the most of its lot.

Hutchins is not one of our most celebrated architects, but he did give the Catholics in Pittsburgh some distinguished buildings. An article about St. James Church in Wilkinsburg gives us some more information about him.

Old Pa Pitt was about to link to some of his earlier pictures of St. Mary of Mercy and discovered that he never published them. Here are a few pictures from ground level.

March 9, 2023