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The Memorial Presbyterian Church is a historic church constructed in

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabit ...

, in 1889 by American industrialist Henry Morrison Flagler. It is located at 32 Sevilla Street. It was dedicated to the memory of his daughter Jennie Louise Benedict, who died following complications from childbirth at sea in March 1889.

History

Flagler was a life-long member of the Presbyterian Church, and upon his daughter's death chose a plot of land on the corner of Sevilla and Valencia Streets, which was very near his hotels, to construct a new church building for the Presbyterian congregation in St. Augustine, the first in Florida. The building, the land it sits on, and the parsonage at the time were all donated to the Presbyterian Church and exchanged for land they owned on St. George and Hypolita Streets (Flagler would later build a municipal building for the city on this site). Like Flagler's other St. Augustine buildings (the Hotel Ponce de Leon, the

Hotel Alcazar A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

, and Grace United Methodist Church), Memorial Presbyterian was designed by John M. Carrere and Thomas Hastings of

Carrere and Hastings Carrere or Carrère may refer to: As a name * Georges Carrère (1897–1986), French classical violinist * Edward Carrere (1906–1984), Mexican art director * Emmanuel Carrère (1957–), French author, screenwriter, and director * Fernando Car ...

architecture firm in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

; however, it greatly differs in architectural style. St. Mark's Basilica inspired the Venetian Renaissance style and Latin cross-shaped sanctuary in Venice. It contains design elements of Spanish, Moorish, Italian, and Baroque style. The building was constructed by builders McGuire and McDonald using poured concrete mixed with

coquina Coquina () is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of the shells of mollusks, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. The term ''coquina'' ...

, a process also used in Flagler's other buildings as well as in Franklin W. Smith's nearby Villa Zorayda and Casa Monica Hotel. The cost of the construction was around $250,000. Many of the exterior architectural details were created with gold and white terracotta. The copper dome was created in Italy, the floors are Italian marble, the pews are carved from

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

, and the baptismal font was carved from a single block of Siena marble. The baptismal font's inscription reads, "'In Memoriam—F. H. B. to J. L, B.—March 25th, 1889. I will be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. (Genesis 17:7)". The church was dedicated on March 16, 1890, and the ceremony was attended by many dignitaries, including

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Caroline Harrison, and Vice President

Levi Morton Levi Parsons Morton (May 16, 1824 – May 16, 1920) was the 22nd vice president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He also served as United States ambassador to France, as a U.S. representative from New York, and as the 31st Governor of N ...

Stained glass windows Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

designed by German artist Herman T. Schladermundt took twelve years to complete and were finally installed in 1901. When Flagler died in 1913, he was interred in a marble

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

connected to the church alongside his daughter Jennie, his infant granddaughter Margery, and first wife Mary Harkness Flagler. In 2012, CNN included Memorial Presbyterian in a list of one of the top eight religious wonders to visit in the United States. Following Hurricane Irma in 2017, Memorial Presbyterian's copper dome underwent a major restoration costing $3.5 million. The 900 pound cross that sat at the top of the dome fell and pierced several holes through the copper. The cross was removed while the dome was repaired, but was later returned. As of March 2019, the church is continuing renovation work to repair damage from Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Irma. The current Pastor and Head of Staff is Flagler College graduate Rev. Dr. W. Hunter Camp, II. Free self-guided building tours are available to the public on Fridays from 11AM-3:30PM.

Notes

References

External links

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Carrère & Hastings Digital Collection, with over 200 drawings for the Ponce de Leon Hotel (now Flagler College), the Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine, and select others

Gallery

File:Memorial Presbyterian Church.jpg, Memorial Presbyterian Church from the Historic American Buildings Survey File:Memorial Presbyterian Church, St. Augustine FL, South view 20160707 1.jpg, South facade File:Memorial Presbyterian Church, St. Augustine FL, Southeast view 20160707 1.jpg, Southeast view File:The ethereal inner dome of the Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church, St. Augustine, Florida.jpg, Interior view File:Memorial Presbyterian Church Sundial - panoramio.jpg, Sundial File:St Aug Mem Presby Church plaque02.jpg, Historical Plaque File:Saint Augustine,Florida,USA. - panoramio (34).jpg, South facade detail File:Saint Augustine,Florida,USA. - panoramio (33).jpg, Dome detail

{{Coord, 29.89379, -81.31688, type:landmark_region:US-FL, display=title Churches in St. Augustine, Florida Historic American Buildings Survey in Florida Tourist attractions in St. Augustine, Florida Renaissance Revival architecture in Florida Churches completed in 1889 Presbyterian churches in Florida 1889 establishments in Florida