Tag: Gothic Architecture

  • St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Wilkinsburg

    St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

    George Nattress & Sons of Philadelphia were the architects of this church, one of the dwindling number of black stone churches in Pittsburgh. The Nattresses were favorites among Episcopalians. Old Pa Pitt can think of any number of Pittsburgh architects of the era who could have done just as well or better from at least an external point of view, but perhaps the Philadelphians had an innate sense of the rhythm of Episcopalian worship.

    Main entrance
    Wooden doors

    Impressive wooden doors form the main entrance.

    My house shall be called the house of prayer for all people

    The inscription “My house shall be called the house of prayer for all people” is from Isaiah 56:7, which was later quoted by Jesus on the one occasion in his earthly career when he got really angry: the Cleansing of the Temple.

    Black stones of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

    The rough-cut black stones of the front arcade. Old Pa Pitt still thinks the sooty blackness adds dignity to many an otherwise prosaic church, and he encourages congregations that still possess black stone churches to keep their historical soot.

    Tower of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
    Tower entrance
    St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
    Parish house

    The parish house is built of matching stone (or at least the stones matched after a few years of exposure to Pittsburgh’s blackening atmosphere), but the neat frames for the windows and doors give it a more urbane and less rustic appearance.

    Entrance to the parish house
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.

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  • Carnegie Free Library, Swissvale

    Inscription: Carnegie Free Library
    Carnegie Free Library

    This charming little Gothic library was designed by Andrew Isles and built in about 1916. Back in February, old Pa Pitt caught it in the middle of a thorough restoration and renovation—and then for some reason forgot about the pictures until now. As he was taking pictures, Swissvale residents walking by stopped to point out how beautiful the library was going to be when the restoration was finished: it was obvious that they love their library, and a borough that loves libraries deserves one like this.

    Carnegie Free Library
    Entrance
    Carnegie Free Library
    Sony Alpha 3000; Fujifilm FinePix HS20EXR.

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  • St. Bede Church and School, Point Breeze

    Crest of the school with inscription

    The school was built first, in 1926, so we begin with the school. The architect was William P. Hutchins, who chose the “collegiate Gothic” style to send the twin messages that this was a school and it was Catholic.1

    St. Bede Catholic School
    Entrance to the school
    Entrance

    The congregation, meanwhile, worshiped in a small frame church for more than twenty years. After the Second World War, Leo McMullen was hired to design a new church and school expansion.2 Both the era and McMullen’s taste dictated a simpler style, but the new building fits well with the school to which it is attached.

    St. Bede Church, front elevation

    The pictures of the church are from back in March; the pictures of the school are from last week. Yes, it does sometimes take old Pa Pitt that long—or longer—just to complete a set of pictures.

    Perspective view of the church
    St. Bede statue in niche

    The Venerable Bede was the great light of the Dark Ages, the author of the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, which is the best source for very early English history. Here he is depicted pausing to think while writing one of his books. Bede was exceptionally good at thinking, which set him apart in the early 700s.

    Face of Bede
    Bede writing
    Bede in his niche
    Entrance and statue
    Entrance
    Sony Alpha 3000; Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.
    1. “St. Bede’s School to Be Dedicated Sunday,” Press, September 3, 1926, p/ 19. “Architecture is of collegiate gothic design by Architect William P Hutchens [sic].” ↩︎
    2. “Tremendous Building Program Looms in Pittsburgh Diocese,” Pittsburgh Catholic, March 28, 1946. “St. Bede’s, Rev. John F. Enright, pastor: Combined school and church building; Leo A. McMullen, architect.” ↩︎

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  • Edgewood Borough Building

    Edgewood borough building

    Lake & Davidson were the architects of this rich building for the rich borough of Edgewood. In 1932, when it was dedicated, it was the subject of a photo feature in the Sun-Telegraph.

    The recently completed structure, which resembles a large, handsome residence, will be dedicated informally today and tomorrow. The committee desired a building for a community of self-governing citizens who regard the law as a positive civic expression rather than an agent of punitive repression.

    Consequently, Lake and Davidson, the architects, selected the domestic architecture of the law-abiding English. The Tudor style fulfills the conditions governing the design which required that many individual activities be housed. This style consistently permits the incorporation of happily rambling units into a decorative sequence.1

    Edgewood borough building
    Edgewood borough building

    When this building was put up in 1932, the Depression was hitting its stride, and prices for construction had fallen. A borough full of rich people could afford quite a luxurious municipal hall. “The building, moreover, was constructed at a time when prices were low enough to give this community double the value in materials.”

    Lantern

    These elaborate lanterns at the entrance are a good example of the materials the borough could afford.

    Lantern
    Dormers and tower
    Firehouse

    “A unique triumph of the building,” says that same Sun-Telly article, “is the concealment of the great, gaping doors necessary for the fire department, in the north wing at the rear.”

    Edgewood borough building
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS; Kodak EasyShare Max Z990.

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  • Belmar Christian Church (Baptist Temple Church), Homewood

    Belmar Christian Church

    Edwin V. Denick was the architect of this neat little corner-tower church, which was built in 1905.1 The current congregation, the Baptist Temple Church, keeps it scrupulously tidy. “We do what we can,” one member modestly told old Pa Pitt—modestly because the man had just spent hours cleaning inside.

    Parsonage and church

    Old maps show that the attached parsonage was built later than the church, but it was matched very well to the style and material of the main building.

    Parsonage
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.

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  • Epiphany Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lincoln–Lemington–Belmar

    Epiphany Evangelical Lutheran Church

    John Lewis Beatty, who gave us many fine churches throughout the city and suburbs, was a grand old man of Pittsburgh church architecture by the time he designed this church, built in 1928. Today the building belongs to Nabhi Christian Ministries, and it seems to be in very good hands.

    Epiphany Evangelical Lutheran Church
    Epiphany Evangelical Lutheran Church
    Entrance
    Epiphany Evangelical Lutheran Church
    Epiphany Evangelical Lutheran Church
    Epiphany Evangelical Lutheran Church
    Epiphany Evangelical Lutheran Church
    Sony Alpha 3000.

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  • Brookline Methodist Episcopal Church

    Brookline Methodist Episcopal Church

    We have seen this church before, but on a recent stroll up the Boulevard old Pa Pitt thought it looked beautiful in the sun, so here it is again. It now belongs to the Brookline Assembly of God, a vigorous congregation that keeps it up very well.

    Tower
    Window in the tower

  • The Chancery, Oakland

    Chancery with entarnce pillar

    Edward J. Weber designed this companion to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and he succeeded in the delicate balance of making the building individual and distinct while still making it fit comfortably in the cathedral complex.

    Cornerstone with date 1914

    The Chancery and the accompanying Synod Hall were built in 1914, as we can see from this elaborate blackletter cornerstone. Today, after extensive renovation and restoration, the Chancery building is the St. Paul Cathedral Center.

    Chancery
    Chancery
    Samsung Galaxy A15 5G with Open Camera.

    The architect Edward J. Weber was one of Pittsburgh’s most interesting contributions to ecclesiastical architecture, and his ideas are embodied in a book that you can find in a good scan in the Internet Archive:

    Catholic Church Buildings: Their Planning and Furnishing. By Edward Joseph Weber, A.A.I.A. New York: Joseph F. Wagner, 1927.

    It includes many illustrations, among them some of Weber’s own buildings, especially St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Wheeling.


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  • Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church, Allegheny West

    Calvary Methodist Church

    This church was finished in 1893; the architects were the Kansas City firm of Vrydagh & Shepard. Thomas B. Wolfe, a native of Sewickley Heights, was working in Kansas City for Vrydagh & Shepard, so it was natural that he should be the one sent to Pittsburgh to supervise the church. While it was under construction or shortly afterward, Martin Vrydagh decided to move to Pittsburgh and join Wolfe, founding the prolific partnership of Vrydaugh (in about 1899 he changed the spelling of his name) & Wolfe.

    Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church

    It took old Pa Pitt a while to figure all that out, because every Pittsburgh reference—including Father Pitt’s own sites and the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation plaque on the church—gave the name of the firm as Vrydaugh & Shepherd. Father Pitt began to get suspicious when he found that Web searches for “Vrydaugh & Shepherd” turned up this church and nothing else, so it was time to explore alternate spellings.

    Spire
    Tower with spire
    Smaller spire
    Detail of Gothic arches
    Calvary Methodist Church
    Kodak EasyShare Max Z990; Fujifilm FinePix HS20EXR.

    We also have pictures of Calvary Church at night and in the snow.


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  • Saltsburg Presbyterian Church

    Saltsburg Presbyterian Church

    Built in 1874, this was the fourth church building put up by this congregation. Apparently this one proved adequate, because—

    Old postcard of Saltsburg Presbyterian Church

    —this old postcard from the Presbyterian Historical Society shows that very little has changed except for the replacement of the slate roof with metal. As a bonus, the church’s matinee-idol minister judges us through his pince-nez from an inset.

    Main entrance
    Corner entrance

    One minor change: the sloped roof over this little corner entrance has been replaced with a gable filled in with siding.

    Saltsburg Presbyterian Church
    Side entrance
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.