First Presbyterian Church (San Angelo, Texas)
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - First Presbyterian Church (San Angelo, Texas)
OR:
First Presbyterian Church (San Angelo, Texas) on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

First Presbyterian is a historic
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
church in
San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin (North America), Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert ...
. It was built in 1906 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, part of the San Angelo Multiple Resources Area. The building is also a
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the U.S. state of Texas. RTHL is a legal designation and the highest honor the st ...
.


History

The First Presbyterian Church of
San Angelo San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin (North America), Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert ...
was organized in a meeting chaired by Presbyterian missionary J.H. Zivley on 1 February 1885. The congregation's first years were fruitful; in 1887, it purchased three
lots Lot, LOT, The Lot or similar may refer to: Common meanings Areas *Land lot, an area of land *Parking lot, for automobiles *Backlot, in movie production Sets of items *A Quantity, great many of something, as in, "There are a lot of beetles," or "T ...
on Irving Street for $500 (). On that site, they commissioned local architect
Oscar Ruffini Oscar Ruffini (10 April 1858–18 January 1957) was an architect in San Angelo, Texas. He was the first civic architect in the city and was responsible for many buildings across West Texas in the last 20 years of the 19th century. Early lif ...
to build a church for $1,100 (). A
sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...
and school were commissioned in 1906 from the L.B. Valk Architectural Company. The work was completed in 1908 at a cost of $40,000 (). The tower was reduced in height from 1925 to 1956.


Preservation

The church was nominated for the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
by the state of Texas on 4 October 1988. The nomination was accepted on 25 November 1988, and First Presbyterian was made the 14th property in the San Angelo Multiple Resources Area.


Architecture

First Presbyterian stands at 32 North Irving Street in downtown San Angelo, across the street from
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
. The church is built of
brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
, with stone ornament, in an
Eclectic style Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact t ...
. The plan is
cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...
, with a tower at the west end, beside the entrance. That entrance is elevated above the sidewalk by a set of stairs. The façade is formed by three round arches for the entryway, each separated by brick
pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...
. These pilasters rise all the way to the top of the
parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...
gable and end with a
finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...
. Above each doorway is a window, the middle of which is a
rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...
rising from a stone
pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...
above the central doorway. The tower has three stories and ends with a Romanesque-style
corbel table In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a bearing weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applie ...
and a four-sided pyramidal roof. As originally planned and constructed, the tower was topped with a
steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...
.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Tom Green County, Texas The following properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Tom Green County, Texas. This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Tom Green Cou ...


Notes


References

* {{Authority control Presbyterian churches in Texas Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Churches completed in 1906 20th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States Churches in Tom Green County, Texas Buildings and structures in San Angelo, Texas National Register of Historic Places in Tom Green County, Texas 1906 establishments in Texas