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West Virginia » Lower Ohio and Kanawha Valleys » Huntington » West Huntington » Second Presbyterian Church

Second Presbyterian Church

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1924–1925, Levi J. Dean. Southwest corner of Jefferson Ave. and 9th St. W.
  • (West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

The most arresting feature of this large BeauxArts brick church is its massive, copper-covered dome. Its ribs are connected at their bases with copper swags, and an octagonal cupola, also of copper, rises from the crown. The dome rests on a multiwindowed drum, with coupled red brick pilasters between each arched window. Below, tight against 9th Street, the sanctuary is faced with a giant Ionic screen. Sunday school wings, cramped against an alley to the south and Jefferson Avenue to the north, flank the sanctuary. The setting is altogether too constricted, and the Sunday school components rob the sanctuary of the monumentality it might otherwise have achieved. Still, the dome, which dominates the neighborhood and is best seen from afar, is quite impressive.

Writing Credits

Author: 
S. Allen Chambers Jr.

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