First Congregational Church is a historic church building at 165 East Mill Street in

Porterville, California Porterville is a city at the base of Southern Sierra Nevada mountains on the eastern side of San Joaquin Valley, in Tulare County, California, United States. It is part of the Visalia-Porterville metropolitan statistical area. Serving as the ...

. The church was built in 1908 by Porterville's

Congregationalists Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

architects Francis W. Reed and George C. Meeker designed the church; their design applies the principles of the

First Bay Tradition First Bay Tradition (also known as First Bay Area Tradition or San Francisco Bay Region Tradition) was an architectural style from the period of the 1880s to early 1920s. Sometimes considered as a regional interpretation of the Eastern Shingle Styl ...

to a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

plan. The design includes a shingled wooden exterior, typical of the First Bay Tradition, and a Gothic spire and arches; the church is the only building in the southern

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

to incorporate both styles. The new church building served as an "institutional church" which also provided community services, including an auditorium, a gymnasium and swimming pool, and a private kindergarten. . The church was added to 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 ...

in 1999. The congregation is affiliated with the

National Association of Congregational Christian Churches The National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC) is an association of 304 churches providing fellowship for and services to churches from the Congregational tradition. The Association maintains its national office in Oak Cree ...

References

External links

* Congregational churches in California Churches completed in 1908 Buildings and structures in Tulare County, California National Register of Historic Places in Tulare County, California Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in California Gothic Revival church buildings in California Shingle Style architecture in California 1908 establishments in California {{California-Congregational-church-stub