Central Presbyterian Church is a church in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

. The congregation was founded in 1852 and built its first building in 1854, which was later enlarged during the 1870s. The rapidly growing congregation outgrew the building, so they built a new church building in 1889. The building, an example of Richardsonian Romanesque

Richardsonian Romanesque

Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...

 architecture, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

The arched entrances, a hallmark of the Richardsonian Romanesque style, feature a number of carved floral and geometric motifs. The façade is coarsely carved Lake Superior

Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...

 brownstone

Brownstone

Brownstone is a brown Triassic or Jurassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States to refer to a terraced house clad in this material.-Types:-Apostle Island brownstone:...

 with a massive 90-foot gable

Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...

 over the arches. The architect, Warren H. Hayes

Warren H. Hayes

Warren Howard Hayes was a leading designer of churches in the United States and Canada during the late 19th century. Hayes' work holds a significant place in its association with the "Social Gospel" movement...

, laid out the seating in the Akron Plan

Akron Plan

Akron Plan for church buildings was popularized by architectural pattern books in the late 19th and early 20th century. The plan is typified by an auditorium form worship space surrounded by connecting Sunday school classrooms spaces on one or two levels. The plan promotes efficiency of movement...

. It features a raised semi-circular chancel

Chancel

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

, which places the speaker in the front of the congregation and at the center of the chancel. The pews are curved and laid out in a semi-circular pattern on a sloping floor. This design, similar to a theater's design, allows each person to see and hear the speaker.

External links

• Central Presbyterian Church