Homestead’s own Adam G. Wickerham, whose office was a short stroll down the street, designed this distinctive Gothic church, the foundation of which was laid in 1913.1 It replaced the earlier St. Matthew’s, which had been built only fourteen years before and still stands a few strides away. In the picture above, we can see another Wickerham building across the street: the old Rodef Shalom synagogue, now a nondenominational church.
Old Pa Pitt does not know the history of this later wing.
The Construction Record, August 23, 1913: “Homestead, Pa.—Foundations are in for a $35,000 stone church to be constructed on McClure avenue and Tenth street for St. Mathew’s P. E. Congrega[tion] from plans drawn by Architect Adam Wickerham, McClure avenue.” ↩︎
In 1924, the Vatican made a separate exarchate, or mission diocese, for Ruthenian Catholics in the United States. Rome imagined it as based in New York, but there were few Ruthenians in New York. The largest concentration of them was in Pittsburgh, and the congregation of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Munhall (which you see in the background here) offered land and resources to the new bishop, Basil Takach (also spelled Wassil Takacs), which he accepted. So St. John the Baptist became a cathedral—thus making the extravagantly eccentric Titus de Bobula a cathedral architect retroactively, giving him one more thing to boast about when circumstances required him to boast.
More to the point, it meant that Munhall suddenly had a bishop, who had to be stored somewhere, and an entire diocesan administration. Adam Wickerham of Homestead, whose office was a short walk from here, was hired to design this eminently respectable-looking palace, which he did in a very Western style.1 The gables originally had Tudor half-timbering, which has been covered over with siding; but otherwise the building has not changed much from Wickerham’s original design.
The exarchate of Pittsburgh became an eparchy in 1963 and an archeparchy in 1969, so that the Byzantine Rite Archeparch (or Archbishop) of Pittsburgh outranks the Latin Rite Bishop of Pittsburgh.
There are many bishops in Pittsburgh from many different rites and denominations, but this may be the only purpose-built bishop’s palace in the area.
American Contractor, December 20, 1924, p. 48. “Munhall, Pa.—Res.: 2 sty. & bas. 42×65. Brk. & stone. 10th & Dickson sts., Munhall. Archt. A. G. Wickersham [sic], 135 E. 6th st., Homestead, Pa. Owner St. John’s Greek Catholic Congr., Rt. Rev. Wassil Takacs, Homestead. Drawing plans.” For date: “Many Visitors to Attend Greek Church Dedication,” Pittsburgh Press, July 4, 1926, p. 56, where a rendering is printed. ↩︎
This is a synagogue that looks the part every inch, and its current occupants have kept all its distinctive features. It was built in 1913, and the architect was the very local Adam Wickerham,1 whose office was only three blocks away. It’s a tribute to Wickerham’s versatility that he designed two prominent religious buildings that face each other across Tenth Avenue—this and St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church—and made each one look exactly right for its congregation.
The American Contractor, February 8, 1913: “Homestead, Pa .—Synagogue: $20,000. 2½ sty. 46×85. Homestead. Archt. A. H. Wickersham [sic], 601 McClure st., Homestead. Owner Rudolph Sholam [sic], Homestead, Plans in progress; M. H. Moss, secy, building committee, Munhall, Pa., will take figures until Feb, 26. Press brick, stone trim, hardwood & yellow pine finish & floors, gas & electric fixtures.” ↩︎
Correction: In an earlier version of this article, old Pa Pitt, who was working on multiple articles at once, had accidentally typed “Point Breeze” in the title instead of “Homestead.”
