Father Pitt

Tag: Wolfe (Lawrence)

  • Educational Wing of the Second Presbyterian Church of Wilkinsburg

    Educational wing

    We have seen pictures of this building before, but a fine building in poor condition will disappear sooner or later without a miraculous intervention, so it is always good to seize the opportunity to harvest a few more pictures when one is in the neighborhood. (There’s a for-sale sign on the door: you could buy this building right now and make the miracle happen.) The educational wing was built in 1928; it was designed by Lawrence Wolfe, with O. M. Topp, one of the architects of the original 1911 church to which it is attached, as associate architect.1

    Entrance
    Entrance
    Key ornament
    Open-book ornament
    Lantern
    Oak-leaf ornament
    Window
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.
    1. The Charette, June, 1928: “507. Architect: Lawrence Wolfe, 119, E. Montgomery Ave., N.S., Pittsburgh, Pa. (O. M. Topp, Associate Architect). Title: School Building for Second Presbyterian Church, Wilkinsburg, Pa. Location: Franklin and Mulberry Streets, Wilkinsburg, Pa. Ready for bids July 15. Approximate size: Three stories and basement. Cubage: 200,000 cu. ft. Stone walls.” ↩︎
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  • Second Presbyterian Church, Wilkinsburg

    Second Presbyterian Church

    This fine corner-tower church, whose cornerstone was laid in 1911, was designed by O. M. Topp and Charles M. Hutchison.1 The plan was probably made in 1906, when a small chapel was put up with the intention of building the larger church when there was enough money. This is one of the very rare cases, incidentally, where the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation is wrong. The PHLF plaque has the church designed by F. Hoffman & Co.; but F. Hoffman & Co., was a Wilkinsburg contractor (probably the one that got the contract for the building), not an architectural firm.

    The congregation is gone, but some attempt is being made to restore the building as a Center for Civic Arts. Old Pa Pitt wishes the Center good fortune, because this fine building deserves to have a future, and Wilkinsburg deserves art. As we can see from this old postcard from the Presbyterian Historical Society collection, the building has hardly been altered at all:

    Old postcard of the church

    The congregation prospered, and in 1928 a large educational wing was built—now abandoned and in bad shape. The architect was Lawrence Wolfe, with O. M. Topp—by then one of the grand old men of Pittsburgh architecture—listed as “associate architect.”2

    Educational wing
    Shield with open book
    Crossed keys
    Educational wing
    Olympus E-20N; Nikon COOLPIX P100.
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  • Mount Lebanon Baptist Church, Dormont

    Tower and spire

    Mount Lebanon Baptist Church has been without a congregation since 2013, but it is kept up, and we hope it has or finds a sympathetic owner. In spite of the name, the church is in Dormont, which was in the “Mount Lebanon district” until it became a separate borough.

    Mount Lebanon Baptist Church
    Cornerstone with dates 1911 and 1930

    The church was put up in 1930; the architects were Lawrence Wolfe (the middle term in a dynasty of Wolfes who were in the architecture business for more than a century) in association with Smith & Reif.

    Mount Lebanon Baptist Church
    Entrance and tower
    Entrance and window
    False pulpit

    This decoration seems to be meant to represent an outdoor pulpit of the sort that was popular in medieval times. It is not functional, or at least not easily used, but it does send the message that the minister could step out here and denounce the whole borough if it became necessary.

    Entrance
    Door pulls and locks

    For hardware connoisseurs, here are some very elegant door pulls and locks.

    Door pulls
    Lantern
    Shield
    Vine decoration

    Grape vines in Gothic style make up most of the carved decoration.

    Vine ornament
    Address and office plaque
    Office sign
    Gable with quatrefoil window
    Tower decorations
    Olympus E-20N; Fujifilm FinePix HS10.

    Some of the decorations verge on an Art Deco interpretation of Gothic.

    We have more pictures of Mount Lebanon Baptist Church in different lighting at a different season.

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  • Mount Lebanon Baptist Church, Dormont

    Mount Lebanon Baptist Church

    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.

    Entrance
    Tower and spire
    Tower decoration
    Cornerstone
    Vine decorations

    Vine decorations under the entrance arches.

    Tracery
    Ornamental capital
    Entrance
    Sign

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

    Mount Lebanon Baptist Church

    More pictures of Mount Lebanon Baptist Church.