![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(December 2013) |
Downtown Presbyterian Church | |
---|---|
![]() 2010 | |
![]() | |
36°09′47″N86°46′47″W / 36.1630°N 86.7798°W Coordinates: 36°09′47″N86°46′47″W / 36.1630°N 86.7798°W | |
Location | 154 5th Ave North Nashville, Tennessee |
Country | USA |
Denomination | Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) |
Website | www |
History | |
Former name(s) | First Presbysterian Church |
Status | Church |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Heritage designation | NRHP |
Designated | July 8, 1970 |
Architect(s) | William Strickland |
Style | Egyptian Revival |
Completed | 1846 |
Specifications | |
Number of towers | 2 |
Administration | |
Synod | Living Waters |
Presbytery | Middle Tennessee |
Clergy | |
Pastor(s) | Larissa Romero |
Old First Presbyterian Church | |
![]() The main façade of the church, showing Egyptian Revival details | |
Location | 154 5th Ave., N. Nashville, Tennessee |
Built | 1849 |
Architect | William Strickland |
NRHP reference No. | 70000608 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | July 8, 1970 |
Designated NHL | April 19, 1993 [1] |
The Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, a part of the Presbyterian Church (USA), was formerly known as First Presbyterian Church. The church is located at the corner of Rep. John Lewis Way and Church Street. As Old First Presbyterian Church it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993, for its distinctive Egyptian Revival architecture. [2]
The congregation began worshiping at this site in 1816. The first structure burned down in 1832, and a second sanctuary was constructed the same year. The third (and present) sanctuary was constructed after a fire in 1848 destroyed the previous structure. The name was changed to "Downtown" after First Presbyterian moved out of downtown Nashville in 1955.
The present sanctuary was designed by William Strickland, who also designed the Tennessee State Capitol, in the Egyptian Revival style. Exterior design elements include Egyptian style lotus columns and a winged sun disk. Interior Egyptian style elements include stained glass windows, woodwork and perspective renderings of Egyptian scenes on the sanctuary walls. The design was commissioned during an era when archaeological reports from Egypt were being reported in western publications. The twin towers of Downtown Presbyterian Church are reminiscent of the twin towers of St. Stephen's Church in Philadelphia, the city that Strickland lived in before he moved to Nashville. Surviving drawings illustrate that he also designed Second Presbyterian Church in Nashville, which was demolished in 1979.
Downtown Presbyterian Church is one of the few examples of Egyptian Revival architecture in the United States, and may be the best surviving ecclesiastical example. William Strickland also designed the second Mikveh-Israel Synagogue in Philadelphia in 1825 with Egyptian Revival elements, but it has not survived. Two other churches in the United States with Egyptian architectural themes that have survived are the First Baptist Church of Essex, Connecticut, and the First Presbyterian Church (Sag Harbor), New York, also known as the Whalers' Church. A virtual tour of the current Downtown Presbyterian Church is available on the church's website. [3]
Several historic events and persons of note have been associated with this church. When Downtown Presbyterian was still known as First Presbyterian Church, President Andrew Jackson was a member. ("General" Andrew Jackson was presented with a ceremonial sword on the steps of the original church, after the Battle of New Orleans.) Tennessee Governor James K. Polk was inaugurated in the second sanctuary. The present church building was seized by Federal forces and served as a military hospital during the Civil War. It temporarily became Nashville's Union Hospital No. 8, with 206 beds. The church has continued to be used as a refuge by Nashville's citizens from floods in the 1920s, by soldiers during the Second World War and presently has an active social ministry to the less fortunate.
Egyptian Revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and imagery of ancient Egypt. It is attributed generally to the public awareness of ancient Egyptian monuments generated by Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and Admiral Nelson's defeat of the French Navy at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. Napoleon took a scientific expedition with him to Egypt. Publication of the expedition's work, the Description de l'Égypte, began in 1809 and was published as a series through 1826. The size and monumentality of the façades discovered during his adventure cemented the hold of Egyptian aesthetics on the Parisian elite. However, works of art and architecture in the Egyptian style had been made or built occasionally on the European continent and the British Isles since the time of the Renaissance.
Thomas Ustick Walter was an American architect of German descent, the dean of American architecture between the 1820 death of Benjamin Latrobe and the emergence of H.H. Richardson in the 1870s. He was the fourth Architect of the Capitol and responsible for adding the north (Senate) and south (House) wings and the central dome that is predominantly the current appearance of the U.S. Capitol building. Walter was one of the founders and second president of the American Institute of Architects. In 1839, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society.
The Tennessee State Capitol, located in Nashville, Tennessee, is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Tennessee. It serves as the home of both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly–the Tennessee House of Representatives and the Tennessee Senate–and also contains the governor's office. Designed by architect William Strickland (1788–1854) of Philadelphia and Nashville, it was built between 1845 and 1859 and is one of Nashville's most prominent examples of Greek Revival architecture. The building, one of 12 state capitols that does not have a dome, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and named a National Historic Landmark in 1971. The tomb of James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States, is on the capitol grounds.
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church is a historic parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, founded in 1823 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and located at 19 South Tenth Street, on the corner of Tenth Street and Ludlow Street. St. Stephen's was designed by William Strickland in the Gothic revival style. It is the oldest extant building in Philadelphia in this style and was designed by an architect-engineer best known for Greek Revival buildings, though, like his mentor Benjamin Latrobe, he produced buildings in other "picturesque" styles as well. St. Stephen's first service was held on February 27, 1823. On June 4, 1979, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. On May 28, 1957, it was designated a historic landmark by the Philadelphia Historical Commission.
William Strickland, was a noted architect and civil engineer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Nashville, Tennessee. A student of Benjamin Latrobe and mentor to Thomas Ustick Walter, Strickland helped establish the Greek Revival movement in the United States. A pioneering engineer, he wrote a seminal book on railroad construction, helped build several early American railroads, and designed the first ocean breakwater in the Western Hemisphere. He was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1820.
Second Presbyterian Church is a landmark Gothic Revival church located on South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, United States. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some of Chicago's most prominent families attended this church. It is renowned for its interior, completely redone in the Arts and Crafts style after a disastrous fire in 1900. The sanctuary is one of America's best examples of an unaltered Arts and Crafts church interior, fully embodying that movement's principles of simplicity, hand craftsmanship, and unity of design. It also boasts nine imposing Tiffany windows. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and later designated a Chicago Landmark on September 28, 1977. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in March 2013.
The architecture of Philadelphia is a mix of historic and modern styles that reflect the city's history. The first European settlements appeared within the present day borders of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 17th century with most structures being built from logs. By the 18th century, brick structures had become common. Georgian and later Federal style buildings dominated much of the cityscape. In the first half of the 19th century, Greek revival appeared and flourished with architects such as William Strickland, John Haviland, and Thomas U. Walter. In the second half of the 19th century, Victorian architecture became popular with the city's most notable Victorian architect being Frank Furness.
First Presbyterian Church of Dallas is a historic congregation at 1835 Young Street in the Farmers Market District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA). The current building is a contributing property in the Harwood Street Historic District and a Dallas Landmark. The congregation was founded in 1856 as the first U.S. (Southern) Presbyterian Church organized in Dallas, and is the mother church from which many other Presbyterian churches in the area have stemmed.
First Presbyterian Church in Sag Harbor, New York, also known as Old Whaler's Church, is a historic and architecturally notable Presbyterian church built in 1844 in the Egyptian Revival style. The church is Sag Harbor's "most distinguished landmark." The facade has been described as "the most important (surviving) example of Egyptian revival style in the United States," and "the best example of the Egyptian Revival style in the U.S. today.
Minard Lafever (1798–1854) was an American architect of churches and houses in the United States in the early nineteenth century.
Government Street Presbyterian Church in Mobile, Alabama is one of the oldest and least-altered Greek Revival church buildings in the United States. The architectural design is by James Gallier Sr., James H. Dakin, and Charles Dakin. The trio also designed Barton Academy, four blocks down Government Street to the west. Government Street Presbyterian reflects the influences of Ithiel Town, Minard Lafever, and Andrew Jackson Downing. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1992.
The Merchants' Exchange Building is a historic building located on the triangular site bounded by Dock Street, Third Street, and Walnut Street in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was designed by architect William Strickland, in the Greek Revival style, the first national American architectural style and built between 1832 and 1834. It operated as a brokerage house in the nineteenth century, but by 1875 the Philadelphia Stock Exchange had taken the place of the Merchants' Exchange.
Built in 1912, the First Presbyterian Church of Redmond is the oldest standing church structure in the city of Redmond, Oregon, United States. It is also the second-oldest religious building in Deschutes County. The church was built in the Gothic Revival style with Queen Anne architectural detailing. It was the home of Protestant congregations from 1912 until 1979. Today, the building is privately owned and used as a special events venue. The First Presbyterian Church of Redmond was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
James Keys Wilson was a prominent architect in Cincinnati, Ohio. He studied with Charles A. Mountain in Philadelphia and then Martin E. Thompson and James Renwick in New York, interning at Renwick's firm. Wilson worked with William Walter at the Walter and Wilson firm, before establishing his own practice in Cincinnati. He became the most noted architect in the city. His Old Main Building for Bethany College and Plum Street Temple buildings are National Historic Landmarks. His work includes many Gothic Revival architecture buildings, while the synagogue is considered Moorish Revival and Byzantine Architecture.
The First Presbyterian Church, known as "Old First", is a church located at 48 Fifth Avenue between West 11th and 12th Streets in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1844–1846, and designed by Joseph C. Wells in the Gothic Revival style. The south transept of the building was added in 1893–1894, and was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. The church complex, which includes a parish house – now referred to as the "South Wing" – on West 11th Street and a church house on West 12th Street designed by Edgar Tafel, is located within the Greenwich Village Historic District.
Peter J. Williamson was a Dutch-American architect.
Church Street is a major thoroughfare in Nashville, Tennessee. It is home to several skyscrapers and buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The architecture of Jacksonville is a combination of historic and modern styles reflecting the city's early position as a regional center of business. According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, there are more buildings built before 1967 in Jacksonville than any other city in Florida, but it is also important to note that few structures in the city center predate the Great Fire of 1901. Numerous buildings in the city have held state height records, dating as far back as 1902, and last holding a record in 1981.
Edwin Augustus Keeble was an American architect who was trained in the Beaux-Arts architecture tradition. He designed many buildings in Tennessee, including homes, churches, military installations, skyscrapers, hospitals and school buildings, some of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He is best known for Nashville's landmark Life and Casualty Tower built in 1957 which was the tallest commercial structure in the Southeastern United States at that time. It reflected an architectural turn to modernism and was one of the first buildings emphasizing energy efficiency.
George Awsumb was a prominent Norwegian-American architect in the first half of the 20th century. Awsumb defined architecture as “frozen music” designed for the “man on the street.” He was influenced by his early life, European travels, and prevailing architectural trends of his time. His eclectic, progressive portfolio included neoclassical, Gothic Revival, Prairie School, and International Style designs. Several buildings that Awsumb designed have been in continuous use in the American Midwest and South for over 100 years. In particular, Awsumb began a family architectural legacy that contributed to the progress and development of Memphis, Tennessee.