Former
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St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Former)
1837, James H. White. 1202 Byron St. (southeast corner of Byron and 12th sts.)
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(West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
When this second church built for the parish of St. Matthew's was new, James Buckingham called it “a neat and chaste edifice of the Grecian-Doric order, with a good portico, and very pretty interior.” The rector, in his report at the 1837 diocesan convention, went even further, saying it could “not be excelled by any in the Diocese.” Unfortunately, those encomiums no longer apply. The full Doric entablature with triglyphs and metopes remains, but roughcast stucco now covers the fluted columns of the portico, and the handsome domed cupola has been removed.
After the third St. Matthew's was built, this second church served as a Baptist church for a number of years. It became the House of Prayer in 1958 and as of this writing is a community church named Church of God's Saints of Christ. Along with First Presbyterian, it remains the most fully realized Greek Revival building in antebellum Wheeling.
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