Roman Catholic
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Church of the Assumption (Roman Catholic)
1905–1906, Thomas C. Kennedy. West side of James St., between St. Cloud and Piedmont sts.
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(West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
Keyser's most prominent church is a handsome neo-Gothic building with Tudor details, designed by a Baltimore architect. As announced in Manufacturers Record, the church is built of “blue limestone trimmed with gray.” Actually more cream than gray, the stone that trims the entrance, windows, and buttress caps contrasts effectively with the limestone, which is actually more gray than blue. Except for smooth buttress caps, all stonework is quarry faced and laid in rough-rubble fashion. The intentional ruggedness is particularly noticeable in the front gable, where stones mortared at a 45-degree angle to the walls produce a jagged silhouette. The buttressed tower to the left is finished with a crenellated parapet. Inside, vivid stained glass, mostly dating from the 1940s, fills the traceried nave windows.
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