St. Luke Catholic Church (St. Mary’s Episcopal Church)

This diminutive Gothic Revival church, constructed of richly textured concrete blocks, vividly marks demographic changes in Bradley County. It was built as an Episcopal church by executives who relocated from Minnesota to found the Southern Lumber Company. The congregation failed to flourish, and the church stood empty from the late 1930s to 1948, when it was purchased by the Catholic diocese to serve not only Bradley County but neighboring Ashley (until 1965) and Drew (until 1978) counties. The first Catholic communicants in Warren were mostly Croatian, but by the late 1990s membership was mostly Hispanic. Masses are now held in both English and Spanish. The asymmetrical facade features a steep front gable with a circular stained glass window, a louvered bell tower capped by a steep pyramidal roof, and a small entrance porch covered by a bell-cast roof under which is a stained glass panel. The sanctuary is distinguished by robust dark wood roof trusses with pendants, which contrast with the beaded-board sheathing of walls and ceilings. The few 1948 alterations include the present entrance porch and the lancet stained glass windows.