St. John's Lutheran Church

Several different building campaigns eventually produced this multispired brick church, which is one of the city's largest. The rectangular sanctuary of the 1850s still shows its Rundbogenstil origins. This German version of Romanesque Revival, obviously appropriate for Lutheran churches, is characterized by numerous round arches. In addition to arched windows, the gabled facade has a shallow row of corbeled brick arches forming a raking cornice. The two lucarne spires that flank the North Queen Street facade likely date from the 1884–1885 remodeling by George Whitson. The corner spire is by far the taller. Louvered dormers on both are capped with sharply pointed rooflets. Behind the sanctuary on West Martin Street, a third tower, added in 1901, mimics the other two. Unfortunately, the hand of the Martinsburg sandblaster hit this prominent church particularly hard, and its walls are quite pitted.