deTour – Page 2 – The Kaintuckeean

TONIGHT: deTour at Longwood Antique Woods

Photos from Longwood. Courtesy of Mary Sloan and Whitney Rhorer.

If you are on Pinterest, you have no doubt seen images of old, worn items being transformed into neat decorative pieces or functional pieces of furniture. When a house near our home was demolished, I salvaged a few doors and used one for the front of a bar when remodeling our basement.

Some of the flooding, doors, furniture and other items that can be salvaged are of incredibly high quality made of very fine materials. So when structures cannot be saved, efforts can and should be taken to extract the salvageable pieces so that they can be preserved and repurposed.

For over two decades, George Gatewood has been doing exactly that. He has been at the forefront of this kind of historic preservation for over two decades is George Gatewood. Tonight, join BGT deTours for an exclusive tour of George’s Longwood Antique Woods. Longwood is located at located at 325 Midland Place and we will tour the showroom, offices, and woodworking facility. We will also walk-through their re-purposing methods. Here is a little more about Longwood’s process from its website:

Longwood Antique Woods has been in the business of reclaiming and recycling old wood for twenty-two years and has supplied countless material solutions for floors, doors, bars, beams, furniture art, and much more. The antique wood in our collections is salvaged from historic barns, warehouses, and cabins slated for destruction throughout the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. Our mission is to supply a green product with a unique history; whether it is from the barn of highly recognized War Admiral or rural farmer Papa Shepard. These products add to the architect’s “green” ratings and the end user’s sense of environmental responsibility, all within an historical context without harvesting a single tree. The wood is meticulously saved by our team of craftsmen, restored and reused rather than being lost forever.

Parking (free!) can be found on site and the group will begin gathering at 5:30 p.m. with the tour starting at 5:45. For more details about the BGT deTours program, and to stay informed about future deTours, you can LIKE BGT deTours on Facebook at facebook.com/BGTdeTours. BGT deTours are free and open to the public.

VisCenter Opens Eyes to New Ways of Seeing the World

Davis Marksbury Building at the University of Kentucky – Lexington, Ky.

~~If you’ve ever~~ Whenever you watch a college football or basketball game, you always see the commercial for the university. Typically in three parts, the school’s marketing team includes a scene from the school’s athletics tradition, a scientist looking into a microscope, and a group of students helping those in a third world country. Insert a tagline and maybe a #hashtag, and you’ve aced college marketing.

But in some corners of academia, really cool stuff does happen. At the University of Kentucky, one of those places is the Center for Visualization & Virtual Environments located in the Davis Marksbury Building. The VisCenter, as it is called, is a multi-disciplinary center charged with changing the way in which we view the world. (And the Marksbury Building, opened in 2011, was the first LEED Gold building on the UK campus.)

The applications stretch through medicine, security and defense, engineering, and the humanities. On last month’s Blue Grass Trust deTour, we were given access to this tremendous (and largely unknown) resource right in the heart of UK.

The advances occurring in facial recognition and the research being done to help educate those with autism is amazing, but the focus of our visit was on the visualization possibilities on urbanization and historic preservation.

Illustrating a stage in the photogrammetric 3D reconstruction process at the VisCenter

Photogrammetric 3D Reconstruction utilizes two-dimensional photography to reconstruct three-dimensional structures with precision by having a camera that can properly gauge distance. (I’m not the one to explain this, go to the VisCenter’s site for a better description). As it was explained, one could imagine the proper technology being mounted to a vehicle to create full 3D measurements of a structure or some other resource. Precise models of historic or natural sites could be created so that, if necessary, a model or recreation of the site could eventually made. At a minimum, the data utilization is endless!

In the realm of preserving relics and documents, consider the following explanation of the research on Digital Preservation and Visualization of Historical Artifacts: We are in race to use 21st century technology to preserve the traces of ancient cultures before the relics disappear forever. The EDUCE project (Enhanced Digital Unwrapping for Conservation and Exploration) is developing a hardware and software system for the virtual unwrapping and visualization of ancient texts. The overall purpose is to capture in digital form fragile 3D texts, such as ancient papyrus and scrolls of other materials using a custom built, portable, multi-power CT scanning device and then to virtually “unroll” the scroll using image algorithms, rendering a digital facsimile that exposes and makes legible inscriptions and other markings on the artifact, all in a non-invasive process.

Images from the all-digital Porgy & Bess set design.

All of these advances are quite remarkable. So, too, is the technology that created an all-digital backdrop for a UK Opera production of Porgy & Bess. The technology trekked to Atlanta for use by the professional Atlanta Opera. Images of that technology were visible to those of us on the deTour on a giant touchscreen table similar to what you might see on election night on CNN.

A trip to the VisCenter for an adult is like a visit to Disney World for a child. The sense of wonder is overwhelming as you imagine a different way of seeing the world.

More photographs from the VisCenter are available on flickr.

The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart). The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Learn more details about this exciting group on Facebook! You can also see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.

Bell Court is one of Lexington’s loveliest neighborhoods

The BGT deTour of Bell Court – Lexington, Ky.

About one mile east of the courthouse is one of Lexington’s small, closely knit neighborhoods: Bell Court. Upon even a cursory exploration of the neighborhood, one can understand a portion of its history. The presence of the impressive mansion at the heart of this little community bears witness to the pattern common in Lexington of “subdividing the parks and pleasure grounds of its great antebellum houses.” Birchfield, 83.

A collection of photos of properties in Bell Court as well as our guide, Jim Birchfield.

The good news is that in the case of Bell Court, the original mansions were not razed. Note that the plural is used because two of the old mansions remain. Each is surrounded by examples of early twentieth-century architecture of the Queen Anne, Romanesque, Arts and Craft and Colonial Revival architectural styles.

And like its variety of architectural styles, the neighborhood has drawn a variety of middle- and upper- class Lexingtonians from different walks of life to create a vibrant sense of community that has been enhanced by a strong neighbhood association (active since 1964).

And while each house in Bell Court has its own beautiful story, constraints now limit their telling. What follows are the stories of Bell Place, Clay Villa, and the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.

Bell Place (ca. 1890)

The primary property in the neighborhood is Bell Place which was constructed on the foundation of Woodside. Woodside had been designed and built by local architect Thomas Lewinski for Henry Bell on thirty-five acres of land which Bell had acquired for $8,750 in 1845. The land had originally been part of the 1,000 acres owned by Col. John Todd.

The planning and building of Woodside required eighteen months work and was completed in 1846. In 1848, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln visited with her mother and wrote in a letter to the future President:

Ma & myself rode out to Mr. Bell’s splendid place this afternoon to return a call. The house and grounds are magnificent. Birchfield, 87.

Upon his death in 1883, Henry Bell conveyed the thirty five acres and Residence to his only son, David Davis Bell (D.D. Bell). Lewinski had passed the year before and was thus unavailable to help D.D. Bell in rebuilding the family home after it burned in 1884.

Photos of the Bell House – Lexington, Ky.

Bell retained Cincinnati architect Samuel Eugene Des Jardins whose 23-page specifications for construction contains frequent “superlative of adjective and adverb [but] nowhere any requirement for economies.” Birchfield, 90-91. In other words, cost was not an issue.

The wealthy Bell was an attorney and an astute observer of Lexington’s growth. To these ends, he formulated a plan in the early 1890s to have a portion of his lands (retaining several acres around the residence) subdivided. D.D. Bell died, however, before this could be accomplished though a directive in his will prompted his widow to accomplish these aims with profits being placed in trust for their only child. Clara’s life and wealth were well-documented in a post on Bricks + Mortar.

Clay Villa (ca. 1846)

The earliest home in Bell Court was the contemporary to Woodside. In fact, Thomas Lewinski’s journals indicate that he worked on designing both Woodside and Clay Villa contemporaneously.

Clay Villa illustration by Clay Lancaster, “Vestiges of the
Venerable City,” 1978.

The Lewinski design was commissioned by Henry Clay for his son, James. (Interestingly, Clay also took the opportunity to commission Mansfield for son Thomas at also at the same time. Lewinski must have been quite busy in the 1840s!).

From the National Register application, we observe that Clay Villa is

Italianate in style with Greek Revival details, [it is] a square symmetrical brick house with hipped roof and four long interior panel chimneys; its walls are divided into three sections by applied segmental arches between wide pilaster-like forms with narrow vertical panels. NRHP.

Collage of Clay Villa. With a Forest Avenue address (frontage at top), the original
configuration would have faced Main Street (lower left).

It was James who would, after his father’s death, raze and rebuild Ashland which had reputed to have fallen into disrepair.

Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd –
Lexington, Ky.

Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd (ca. 1925)

Formed as a mission of the Christ Church in 1888, the cornerstone for the Episcopal Church at Main Street and Forest Avenue was laid on August 30, 1925. The tale told of the funding of its construction is interesting, as told in the National Register application:

The fortunes of the church were given a great boost in 1924 when the Reverend Thomas L. Settles became the first and most effective clergyman to speak to the State Legislature against the anti-pari-mutual bill, thus gaining the support of followers of the turf. Wealth and prominent leaders of the horse industry, many not members of the church, began to support the ambitious building plans of Settle and the building committee, and the sanctuary was completed in 1926.

There are 39 major stained glass windows in this beautiful Gothic Revival house of God.

Additional photographs of the Bell Court neighborhood and its magnificent resources can be found on flickr.

Again, special thanks to our tour guide of Bell Court: local historian and curator of rare books in Special Collections at the UK Library, Jim Birchfield.

First African Baptist Church: A Historic Structure, a Historic Faith, and a Determined Future

First African Baptist Church at Short & DeWeese – Lexington, Ky.

At the southwest corner of East Short and DeWeese Streets stands the oldest African-American church in Kentucky and the third oldest African American Baptist church in the nation. The strong edifice of the First African Baptist Church anchors this once residential block and seeks to once again anchor the East End community.

Labeled in the 1890 Sanborn insurance map as the First Baptist Church (Colored), its parenthetical used to differentiate between it and the anglo First Baptist Church on West Main. It is unlikely, however, that such a parenthetical would have been needed for any Lexingtonian then looking at the map for First African’s location in the East End suggested the racial identity of her members living in this southern city.

First African Baptist Church is, without a doubt, a Historic Structure representing a Historic Faith. And though the Baptists abandoned the building decades ago, those who love this structure have for it a Determined Future.

Front Doors of the First African
Baptist Church – Lexington, Ky.

A Historic Structure

Constructed in 1856 with the slave labor of its own membership, the significant architectural detail leaves no doubt that the structure’s design was prepared with great thought and attention. First African is described in the National Register as a “good example of a mid-nineteenth century Italianate style Protestant chapel,” though the windows on the eastern façade (when uncovered) are said to have a Gothic appearance.

In 1926, the Parish House was added in the Collegiate Tudor style on the western side of the old church. Also added to the façade of the church in the 1920s was the “colossal stone portico with four widely spaced Tuscan columns … across the front with a flat entablature.”

The interior’s description in its National Register application predates its conversion to the daycare center of Central Christian Church. This present use has converted the sanctuary into a gymnasium with basketball goals, toys, and cots. The description from 1986:

A well-proportioned rectangular hall, it is distinguished by a classical Georgian cornice. The most striking feature is the large mural of Jesus christ as a shepherd rescuing a stray lamb from the precarious edge of a cliff high over a river (presumably Jordan). It is flanked by red draperies and tall unfluted Corinthian columns. Similar red curtains protect the baptismal pool at the southwest corner of the sanctuary, where the sacred ceremony of total immersion takes place. In the opposite corner is the raised seating of the choir, whose musical participation is of paramount importance in the services. The walls are painted to resemble stone in soft beige tones, and the opalescent-glass windows cast pleasing soft colors over them.

Many of these interior features were removed when the FABC departed the location for Price Road in 1987.

A Historic Faith

Though the building itself was erected in the mid-19th century, the history of the congregation dates back to the prior century. Peter Durrett, a slave who came across the mountains from Virginia in 1781 with his master and the Traveling Church. Known as “Uncle Peter” or “Old Captain,” Durrett was an able preacher just like his master Lewis Craig,

In fact, Durrett had previously scouted the path and destinations the Travelling Church would take into Kentucky. This assigned task by his master revealed a great deal about Durrett’s character and intelligence, and the respect he garnered from all those – black and white – in that group of sojourners.

In 1790, Durrett established his own congregation in Lexington in what was easily the first black congregation west of the Alleghenies. When Durrett died in 1823, he left behind a strong church and a historic legacy.

London Ferrill, the second minister, assumed the pastorate upon the death of Durrett and remained as leader of the flock until his own death in 1854. During the time, he would baptize over 5,000 souls to Jesus Christ. He brought his church into the fold of the Elkhorn Baptist Association in 1824.

Ferrill was highly respected by all races, much like his predecessor. When some in the church sought to have him removed over a churchly matter, they attempted to utilize a state law requiring slaves freed from other states to stay no longer than 90 days in Kentucky. Ferrill’s friends in Frankfort passed special legislation granting him the permission to stay here permanently.

During the 1833 cholera epidemic, Ferrill stayed in Lexington (one of only three ministers to do so during the epidemic) to pastor his congregation, administer medicine, and bury the dead.

He was so well respected by all peoples of Lexington that his funeral was the largest attended in the city’s history, a claim not to be eclipsed until the 1852 funeral of Henry Clay.*

* This funeral factoid is told in one of two ways, with the runner-up to Clay being either Durrett or London Ferrill, the second minister of First African. Either way, it evinces the significant role this church played in the community.

A Determined Future

Rendering of Restored FABC with Addition
Photo: First African Foundation

Yvonne Giles, a local historian and expert on the East End, emphasized the importance of interpreting First African within the neighborhood as she repeated that it was “not just a church, but a community center.” It was the gathering place for generations of the East End and African-American communities of Lexington.

When the congregation departed in 1986, Central Christian purchased the structure and found utility in it. It is altogether possible that the historic church could have been demolished in the late 1980s in favor of a surface parking lot were it not for Central’s intervention. In the 2010s, Central Christian has sought to unload some of its surplus property and for a time the First African Foundation was under contract to acquire the old church at Short and DeWeese and convert it back into a community center. The Foundation intended to restore the old sanctuary as well as the circa 1926 Collegiate Tudor addition. The complex would “include a theater space with 300 to 350 seats, conference rooms, exhibit areas and space for music education.” Unfortunately, this worthy cause failed due to a want of funds.

But a different future for the historic structure emerged in October 2017, with the announcement that Zeff Maloney was purchasing the structure from Central Christian with the intent of redeveloping it into a commercial space. Maloney has previously turned around the old Protestant Infirmary just a block away.

Maloney plans to “bring [First African] back to its former glory” according to his interview with the Herald-Leader. I, for one, can’t wait to see it!

Sources
Bio of London Ferrill; First African Foundation; Lexington Herald-Leader; NRHP; Owenton News Herald

This post was updated on October 6, 2017, to revise the “Determined Future” section to reflect changes to the First African Foundation’s progress and the acquisition of the property by Mr. Maloney

Last Week’s #ThrowbackThursday a Clue to this Week’s Blue Grass Trust deTour of First African Baptist Church

Last Week’s #TBT Photo

The Streetsweeper successfully guessed that a connection might lie between last week’s #TBT post and this week’s Blue Grass Trust deTour of the First African Baptist Church.

I had significantly cropped the contest photo, displayed above, from the original. In so doing, I actually masked the church from view. In the foreground is a Sunday School class from what was known in its day as the First Baptist Church (Colored) while the background showed the streetscape of Short Street ca. 1911 looking west from Deweese Street. At the time it was highly residential and quite different from its present form.

The uncropped photo follows after the jump.

1911 Photo of First African Baptist Church Sunday School – Lexington, Ky.
Photo: University of Kentucky.

The uncropped photo also shows the church as it originally appeared, prior to the 1926 Collegiate Tudor addition.

Further back in history, this congregation was the largest in the Commonwealth. The church acquired the property in 1833 and the extant structure was erected in 1856. But the congregation itself traces its roots back to 1790 and its first minister, Peter Durrett.

To learn more about this beautiful piece of Lexington’s East End history (and how you can help preserve her), join the Blue Grass Trust deTour tomorrow evening (that’s Wednesday at 5:30). More details are available on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bgtdetours/events.

Also, be sure to check out Merlene Davis’ column which appeared in today’s Lexington Herald-Leader, “Efforts continue to purchase Lexington’s historic First African Baptist Church.”

Sayre School: An Institution of the “Widest Range and Highest Order”

Sayre School – Lexington, Ky.
(R: David A. Sayre, headmaster’s office, Spartans colored stairs)

David A. Sayre was a wealth silversmith from New Jersey who arrived in Lexington in 1811. By the end of the following decade, he had completely abandoned the trade in favor of commercial banking which had become a staple of the economy. With success, he quickly became one of Lexington’s most affluent denizens.

With his success, he contributed greatly to a number of philanthropic efforts. On November 1, 1854, Sayre founded the Transylvania Female Academy. Within a year, the school was renamed for its founder and benefactor as the Sayre Female Institute. The school began to admit boys in 1876 and finally dropping the gender-specific name in 1942.

During almost this entire history, Sayre School has operated at the same location: 194 North Limestone, now affectionately referred to as “Old Sayre.” (That brief interim as the Transylvania Female Academy found the school seated at the northwest corner of Church and Mill Streets.)

Old Sayre was constructed in 1846 as a two story, three-bay Greek Revival designed by local architect Thomas Lewinski as the home of Edward P. Johnson. Johnson lived here until 1855 when he sold the property to Sayre. By the end of the decade, two additional floors had been added to Old Sayre with the alterations being designed by architect John McMurtry.

View of downtown Lexington from atop the
cupola of Old Sayre.

With the alterations, Old Sayre has assumed features of the Italianate style. On all four floors, the windows in the three bays are triple-section with the garret’s central window featuring a palladium window. Leading up to Old Sayre’s central architectural feature are a narrow set of stairs painted yellow and blue – the school colors. That signature feature is the square cupola topping Old Sayre, also having three windows on each side.

Given Sayre’s location just north of the downtown commercial district, the cupola offers sweeping views of downtown.

The property is seated on what was once Outlot No. 11 in the earliest of Lexington’s plans laid out in 1791. On this five acre tract and in the footprint of Old Sayre, Colonel George Nicholas constructed his home. Nicholas was, among other accolades and accomplishments, a prominent lawyer, Revolutionary War veteran, father of Kentucky’s Constitution, and the first attorney general of Kentucky. (Read more about Col. Nicholas here.)

Nicholas died in 1799 and is buried in the Old Episcopal Burying Grounds, the property was sold in 1806 to Thomas Hart, Jr. “who had a rope walk on the rear of the property.” (It is questionable whether the rope walk would today be considered an amusement ride and not permitted under present zoning law.) Hart’s family sold the land to Johnson who demolished the Nicholas home in favor of the two-story, supra.

David Sayre sought the formation of the school to provide an education of the “widest range and highest order.” Having survived through both the Civil War and the Great Depression, Sayre continues to provide such an education to her pupils.

Additional photos of the Sayre School deTour are available on flickr.

Sources: Lexington: Heart of the Bluegrass; NRHP; Sayre School

Walking Tour of Woodward Heights Reveals Stunning Architecture and Beautiful Gardens

Examining the walking tour brochure of the
Woodward Heights Historic District – Lexington, Ky.

The best way to explore any urban area is on foot. In Lexington, the BGT has created a series of walking tour brochures for the various historic districts surrounding downtown.

A brochure for Woodward Heights is the most recent addition to the offerings, having been released at the June deTour.

It is the largest walking tour brochure to wit covering 45 properties in an area roughly bounded in a triangle between High, Maxwell, and Merino Streets – an area centered around #40: Botherum House.

This neighborhood was subdivided and developed in the late 1800s and stands as a largely intact reflection of the period’s architecture. Woodward Heights was added to the National Register in 1980 and was made a local historic district in 1987.

The neighborhood can be recognized not only for its architectural diversity, but also for the resident’s efforts to beautify the neighborhood with gardens in back yards, front yards, and shared use spaces.

722 West High Street – Lexington, Ky.

Two homeowners opened their doors for our deTour. The first was the Ella C. Williamson House at 722 West High. The brochure describes the property as follows:

An eclectic Victorian mansion, this house was owned by Ella Williamson, widow of a building contractor who had emigrated from Scotland with his brother in the 1860s. The house’s many ornate wood decorations reflect his connection with the East End [Planing] Mill on the Town Branch (1867). Rough-cut limestone lintels, dentil work, and Roman columns are also evident. A large bay with a turret and bracketed eaves are featured.

Walking into 722 West High, one is immediately overcome by the intricate walnut and cherry woodwork. Exceedingly high ceilings make the space so open and the pocket doors between foyer and living room that much more impressive. (The doors are easily seen in this Herald-Leader article.) Owned by Fran Taylor and Tom Cheek, the home is a pantheon of color that adds to the home’s grandeur.

Helene Steene welcoming us into her home at
312 Madison Place, Lexington.

Around the corner and a few doors up Madison Place is the home of artist Helene Steene. The native-born Swede’s studio is in Loudon House, but undoubtedly she can find inspiration (or reprieve) at her lovely home and stunning garden at 312 Madison Place. The home was described in Bricks+Mortar as being in the “romatntic revival [style], but the details are Colonial inspired.”

This property is the Frank W. Fletcher House as it was first occupied by he, a lumber dealer. The house appeared on the 1907 Sanborn map and is described in the Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory as being in the “Richardsonian/Neo-Classical” style.

That rose, pictured at right, is of the trellising variety in a particular plant that climbs to the second story! Steene’s art is impressive, but I will always remember her for a different accomplishment: I played LYSA soccer with her son in the 1990s and she was our Coach!

Yes, we all wear different stripes at different times. And so, too, does Madison Place. The neighborhood which had fallen apart through the 1970s has seen a slow continuous trickle of improvements that have made it one of the most impressive of Lexington’s near neighborhoods.

All photos from the Woodward Heights deTour are available on flickr.

Kentucky’s Oldest Florist, Michler’s

Michler Florist on Maxwell Street – Lexington, Ky.

Drive slowly down Maxwell Street and you may find one of the gems of Lexington. For generations, the Michler family has grown beautiful flowers and other flora in the greenhouses which now occupy land sandwiched better the University of Kentucky and downtown Lexington.

Michler Florist, or Michler’s, is the Commonwealth’s oldest continually operated greenhouse and florist. Carl Michler, an immigrant from Württemberg, Germany, began to establish his greenhouses on the site in 1902. It was a family business and remains so to this day.

It was written in the Herald Leader on the occasion of Michler’s 100th anniversary that Michler’s “is a fundamental piece of traditional downtown Lexington. It’s a grass-roots family business as old as the neighborhood around it, with a strong old-fashioned flavor.”

Carl’s two sons, Louis and Charlie shared the operation until Charlie broke out to begin the defunct Michler Nurseries on Richmond Road. Louis kept the family greenhouse operating on Maxwell Street before turning the helm over to his son, Karl, who returned from military service in World War II.

Karl’s son, John, would later operate the family business after having studied horticulture at UK. His expertise has expanded Michler’s offerings to include native species and educational offerings in perennials and garden design. And now, through John’s son Robin, a fifth generation has joined the fray!

Michler’s is unique for in those greenhouses – now a century-plus old – the plants sold here are still cultivated in-house. The alternative seen in most floral shops is to only assemble arrangements from the cuttings from far distant lands.

Ordinarily, I’d include a flickr link here – but, alas, I accidentally deleted my photos from this deTour. A pity, as the beautiful flora is a spectacle to behold. Since I can’t share them, you should stop by Michler’s at 417 E. Maxwell Street.

Art Abounds at Central Christian Church

This is part 2 in a two part series on Central Christian Church. The first installment discussed the building and the church itself with some interesting tidbits. An earlier post on this site commented on the prayer garden at the church.

“The Good Shepherd” Stained Glass Window – Central Christian Church – Lexington, Ky.

No longer visible from the sanctuary after a post-fire remodeling of the historic sanctuary of Central Christian Church in downtown Lexington, “The Good Shepherd” stained glass window is alit and visible in the evenings on Martin Luther King Blvd. and from a mechanical room on the church’s interior.

A platform in the mechanical room brings you nearly to the face of Jesus, carrying the lost sheep to safety. The powerful art and imagery at Central Christian Church are reminders of their faith, designed to deepen spiritual understanding. A publication, Symbols in Our Journey of Faith, examines the art in this impressive church, as well as its meaning.

Doorways depicting Moses and David

After ascending the stairs along Short Street, one encounters the hand carved doors made of American Red Oak. Installed in the spring of 1980, each of the six doors depict a different figure in the Christian (Disciples of Christ) faith: Moses, David, the prophet Micah, Jesus of Nazareth, St. Paul the Apostle, and Barton Stone. Each pair of the highly symbolic doors close beneath a tympanum complete with more Judeo-Christian symbology.

Another entry to the church is through the prayer garden – a common feature found in churches as reminders of the first garden – “Eden, when God and humankind lived together in a relationship of absolute trust and obedience.” The prayer garden was added during renovations to the church in the 1950s.

Upon entering the sanctuary at Central Christian Church, one is immediately taken by the most impressive collection of stained glass windows. Each is described in Symbols, but I will highlight a few. In the rear of the church balcony is the Empty Tomb depicting the Easter scene of the angel in white advising Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome of Christ having been raised while the three wooden crosses of Golgotha are depicted in the window’s upper left.

Behind the chancel is the most impressive of the windows: God at Work in the World. The upper portion consists of a rose window with a central depiction of the hand of God under a crown with the words from Genesis, “In the beginning, God.” Each petal in the rose window are representative of God’s work in the world. Below the rose window, Christ stands with outstretched hands – “and became flesh.” Several Biblical scenes surround the Christ.

Many other stained glass windows frame the sanctuary: Gospel windows, The Three Graces (faith, hope, charity) window, and several Maltese crosses included.

Centrally located behind the communion table is an ornate Celtic Cross dedicated in 1969. It is a reproduction of the St. John’s Cross at the Iona Abbey in Iona, Scotland. Handcrafted in Scotland, the cross itself weighs nearly 100 pounds. Ancient symbolism are engraved into both sides of the cross, though weight and display options limit viewing to only the one side. The Celtic Cross is typically associated with the Scottish Presbyterian Church, of which many early Disciples of Christ leaders were first associated.

Regardless of your faith preference, one must stand in awe of the beautiful sanctuary and structure of Central Christian Church. Like an onion, each layer of meaning and symbolism can be peeled away to reveal more meaning and symbolism in the church’s journey of faith.

More photographs of Central Christian Church can be found on flickr.

Sources: Central Christian Church (DoC), Symbols in Our Journey of Faith.

Oldest Disciples of Christ Church is Historic Central Christian Church in Lexington

This is part 1 in a two part series on Central Christian Church. This installment discusses the building and the church itself with some interesting tidbits, while Part 2 examines the great art found at Central. An earlier post on this site commented on the prayer garden at the church.

Gathered on the Steps of Central Christian Church – Lexington, Ky.

In 1891, the Main Street Christian Church had an enrollment of 914. Too many for its space. A new location was found at the corner of Walnut and Short streets on the site of the derelict Masonic temple. The site was bought for $12,100 and the temple razed. At 5 p.m. on August 7, 1893, the cornerstone for the renamed Central Christian Church was laid atop the foundation of the old Masonic temple.

Central Christian Church, ca. 1898. Source: NRHP.

On July 22, 1894, the new church, constructed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, was dedicated. The photo, at right, is the earliest known photo of Central Christian Church. Taken in 1898, the photo shows the building’s original entrance with an “elegant concrete walks and steps leading to and around the building [all] in bold relief.” The paired steps along both Walnut and Short stand in contrast to the single set of steps now along only Short Street (the change being made due to a 1930s fire, discussed below).

According to the National Register Application, Central is Lexington’s only major remaining Richardsonian Romanesque, describing the old courthouse as being stylistically provincial.

A Growing Church. Around 1911, the church began to find their space inadequate and enlargement was discussed. An education wing was formally dedicated in November 1915.

In 1933, a fire in the church caused significant damage to the sanctuary. The decision was made to reconfigure it to its present layout (save the chancel which was later enlarged); the new sanctuary was dedicated in September 1934. In the time between the fire and the dedication, the church found refuge for its weekly services at the Kentucky Theatre.

Central Christian Church, ca. 1952. Source; NRHP.

Another expansion in 1950 saw the demolition of the previously mentioned education wing in favor of an enlarge education wing as well as another sanctuary remodel and the construction of the Chapel of Memories. During this remodel, the congregation met in the auditorium at the old Henry Clay High School on East Main Street.

In 1954, “My Father’s Garden” was dedicated. It had been designed by Central’s Mrs. Wilson Case Lawwill with Louis Hillenmeyer serving as consulting landscape architect.

A final addition occurred in the early 2000s after Central purchased the old municipal building at the eastern end of Barr Street. Though once a beautiful structure, a flat façade added in the 1960s or 70s eliminated all beauty. The decision was made to raze the building and in its place, a new fellowship, youth and children center, and additional parking were made available for the growing church. It was a wise decision (particularly when compared to the alternative of abandoning the downtown site), and the church has since grown.

Sanctuary of Central Christian Church – Lexington, Ky.

Interesting Tales. A review of the old newspaper archives is always revealing, and a few stories related to Central Christian Church are of note. In 1902, “Patrolman James Dodd, while searching for a burglar, fell into the baptistry at Central Christian Church.” In 1905, “Central … votes to try individual communion cups for 30 days.” (They still use them.) In 1918, “Fifty stars on flag unveiled at Central Christian Church yesterday.” (I don’t understand this as we didn’t get a fiftieth (or forty-ninth) state until 1959. Ideas, anyone?) In March 1955, noted Disciple Ronald Reagan, in town as a movie star and program supervisor for General Electric Theater, delivered a “layman’s witness” to the congregation.

Evolution of Church Polity and Doctrine. Theologically, the church and its prior inceptions represent the oldest Disciples of Christ church in the denomination (though other churches are older, they began under other denominational brands before taking the Disciples identity). The church can be linked through history to a founding in 1816.

In its early years, the church was a hotbed for the community’s temperance movement. The annual meetings of the Kentucky Women’s Christian Temperance Union met almost annually at Central. On the opposite corner from the church, Tom Lyons had to go to court against the church in order to open his saloon, though he ultimately succeeded in 1897. A 1911 sermon series on “Vital Church Discipline” including a message entitled “Excommunicate the unworthy” which “created a profound impression and caused much favorable comment.” Though taking harsh posititions in the early years, both Central (and Disciples, generally) ultimately have softened their tone with regard to alcohol (recognizing that, after all, Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine) and other matters. In 2011, Central was recognized as an Open & Affirming congregation, showing a grand shift in social thought from its former days as a hotbed of WCTU activity.

A deTour to Remember. Though I’ve attended services several times at Central, I knew little of its history until our Blue Grass Trust deTour of the venue in early April 2013. The senior minister since 1995, Dr. Michael Mooty, led an adventurous crew through the church’s old boiler room with the exposed foundation from the old Masonic temple. It was joked that a dusty old chair in the boiler room was the a strict form of discipline for those talking during Sunday school or during services; it would seem this to be less strict, however, than that proposed in the 1911 sermon on “Excommunication: Withdrawal from the Church of Unworthy Members” preached by Rev. I. J. Spencer.

Our adventure continued through a portal off the balcony into a small mechanical room where we discovered a ladder mounted to the wall. Up we climbed to a small landing next to the magnificent stained glass rose window of Jesus that is visible from Martin Luther King Blvd, but not from the church’s interior since the 1933 fire and reconfiguration.

Another long ladder, fixed at about 30-45°, took the most adventurous from the landing to the platforms that span above the sanctuary. Though the spaces were tight, the sense of construction and the sentiment of history was strong in this surprising elements to the deTour.

Shimmying to the area atop the sanctuary

An ajar light fixture above the sanctuary revealed the height from the ground below. Pictured through the opening in the light is the front pew of the church, upon which lay a few hymnals.