You are here

Texas: East, North Central, Panhandle and South Plains and West » West Texas » Fort Stockton to Valentine » Marfa (Presidio County) » First Christian Church

First Christian Church

-A A +A
1927. Leighton G. Knipe. 120 W. Lincoln St.

The white-painted First Christian Church by Knipe of Los Angeles is striking because it is so austere. The rectangular nave with a low-pitched hipped roof masked by a high parapet is offset by low wings. High-set round-arched windows on the long north and south sides, a circular window facing east, a cross rising above the parapet of the east elevation, and an espadaña above the south side entrance porch are the church’s principal architectural details.

Nearby, the red brick First United Methodist Church (1915; 118 W. Washington Street), elevated on a raised basement, is a composite of Romanesque and Gothic features. A square, three-stage tower stands to one side of the steeply pitched front gable. The Gothic Revival St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (1929, Braunton and McGhee; 101 E. Washington) is much more modest. Its front-gabled nave is surfaced with multicolored river rock. A diminutive copper steeple rises above the entrance, which is highlighted by stone vous-soirs.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
×

Data

What's Nearby

Hotel Paisano (Hotel El Paisano)
Presidio County Courthouse and Jail
Buildings on North Highland Avenue
La Mansana de Chinati/The Block
International Woman’s Foundation (Building 98, Fort D. A. Russell)

Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "First Christian Church", [Marfa, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-02-FV21.

Print Source

Buildings of Texas

Buildings of Texas: East, North Central, Panhandle and South Plains, and West, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019, 445-445.

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.

,