You are here

Arkansas » River Valley » Sebastian County » Fort Smith » First Presbyterian Church

First Presbyterian Church

-A A +A
1898–1900. 116 N. 12th St.
  • (Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, A Division of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, Ralph Wilcox, photographer)

This Gothic Revival church of rusticated limestone is an eye-catching composition of unusual proportions. A soaring bell tower at the corner of the building rises in several stages to a red tile pyramid roof. The tower is flanked by slender turrets with their own diminutive pyramid roofs. In the tower’s base is a broad Tudor-arched entrance, which is matched by the entrance to the portico that stands in front of the principal facade. Red tiles shingle a high-pitched sanctuary roof, which descends so steeply that the windows on the side walls are broad rather than tall in their proportions but are given additional height by pointed gable tops and finials. In 2003, Tony Leraris renovated the sanctuary interior. An education building and a family center added later at the side of the church echo the medieval theme, but in a more sober castellated mode.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Cyrus A. Sutherland with Gregory Herman, Claudia Shannon, Jean Sizemore Jeannie M. Whayne and Contributors
×

Data

What's Nearby

Commercial Buildings on Garrison Avenue
Immaculate Conception Church
Fort Smith Regional Art Museum
Louis Tilles House (John Rogers House)
McKibben-Bonneville House

Citation

Cyrus A. Sutherland with Gregory Herman, Claudia Shannon, Jean Sizemore Jeannie M. Whayne and Contributors, "First Presbyterian Church", [Fort Smith, Arkansas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/AR-01-SB11.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Arkansas

Buildings of Arkansas, Cyrus A. Sutherland and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2018, 97-97.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,