St. Luke's United Methodist Church, also known as St. Luke's Methodist and as St. Luke's United Methodist, is a historic

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...

-style church located at 1199 Main Street in

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

. It was individually listed on 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 1998, and as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

in the Upper Main Street Historic District in 2005. with It is part of the Iowa Conference of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

. The church has more Tiffany windows than any other church in the state. with According to its NRHP nomination, the building is significant for its history in religion in Dubuque, for its

(unique in Dubuque), and for its Tiffany glass.

National Register listing

*Historic Significance: Architecture/Engineering *Architect, builder, or engineer: Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co., Kramer, George W. *Architectural Style: Romanesque *Area of Significance: Art, Architecture *Period of Significance: 1875-1899 *Historic Function: Religion *Historic Sub-function: Church Related Residence, Religious Structure *Current Function: Commerce/Trade, Religion *Current Sub-function: Professional, Religious Structure

History

The church can trace its origins back to the founding of the city of Dubuque. Barton Randle, preached the first sermon on Iowa soil on November 6, 1833. First services were held in 1833 in a multipurpose log cabin building in what is now Washington Square. Subsequent buildings were built in 1834 (also in what is now Washington Square), 1839 (across the street), 1853 (on Main Street between 11th and 12th Streets), and the current building at the corner of 12th and Main Streets. The present church was built in 1896, and the congregation began worshiping in the building in 1897. The church is noted for their collection of over 100 Tiffany

Stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows. It has been called "one of the five finest Religious Tiffany collections in the world." The Angel in the window of the Angel among the Lilies is rumored to bear the likeness of the young deceased daughter of the people who had sponsored that particular window. Since 1990, the church has made an effort to restore and preserve these windows. The

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

in the church is also of historic interest. When the Farand and Votey organ was purchased, two train cars were required to bring the parts to Dubuque. Because the train could not get across the river, barges than were used to float the parts over so that they could be installed in the church. The organ has about 1,000 pipes. At the time of installation, it was one of the largest organs in the area, however over the years it has been eclipsed by others. The pipe organ contains 36 ranks or pipes, about 2,200 total and was restored in 1992 by the Fowler Organ Company,

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

References

External links

St. Luke's Church Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Luke's United Methodist Church, Dubuque, Iowa Churches completed in 1896 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Dubuque, Iowa United Methodist churches in Iowa Churches in Dubuque, Iowa Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Iowa Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Iowa

National Register listing

History

See also

References

External links