Shiloh Baptist Church

At the turn of the twentieth century, Park Avenue was the most fashionable street in the rapidly developing Brambleton neighborhood. That the rugged Richardson Romanesque Shiloh Baptist Church closely resembles Epworth Methodist Church across town was no accident, for the same architecture firm designed both buildings at about the same time. Originally called the Park Avenue Baptist Church, the building is constructed of gray granite with brownstone trim. An enormous tower at the northeast corner dominates the exterior, but unlike Epworth, the church is longitudinally oriented east to west. The east facade is dominated by a circular stained glass window with plate tracery, and the north and south sides appear unusually low beneath the broad sweep of the roof. Small clerestory windows are located close together in a ribbonlike fashion. Wooden piers joined by wooden arches support a stately hammerbeam ceiling on the interior.