The First Congregational Church building was constructed of red sandstone in Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

-Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 style, featuring round-arched windows and semi-circular rows of pews. When built, the building was in the residential neighborhood of Marcy-Holmes; it was surrounded by mansions of robber barons

Robber barons

Robber baron may mean:*Robber baron, German nobles who levied illegal tolls in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries*Robber baron , a pejorative term for certain 19th to early 20th century American industrialists...

 of the time, including Octavius Broughton, Woodbury Fisk, Thomas Andrews, Van Cleve, William McNair, and John Dudley. Over time, the neighborhood changed to a more transient population, dominated by students attending the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

. 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...

 (1847-1899) was Minneapolis' leading designer of churches in the 19th century, having designed the Calvary Baptist Church, Fowler Methodist Episcopal Church

Fowler Methodist Episcopal Church

Fowler Methodist Episcopal Church, now known as the Scottish Rite Temple, is a historic church building in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was designed by architects Warren H. Hayes and Harry Wild Jones. Hayes submitted the original design for the chapel in 1894, but...

, and Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church

Wesley United Methodist Church (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

The Wesley United Methodist Church building was constructed of granite, stone, brick, and sandstone in Richardsonian Romanesque style, featuring round-arched windows and multiple towers...

, as well as the Central Presbyterian Church in Saint Paul

Central Presbyterian Church (St. Paul, Minnesota)

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

.

Hubert Humphrey

Hubert Humphrey

Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...

, 38th Vice President of the United States

Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

, was a member of this congregation.