Central Congregational Church (296 Angell St., Providence, Rhode Island 02906) was designed in 1890 by Carrère and Hastings, one of the pre-eminent architectural firms of the American Renaissance and today best known for designing the New York Public Library in 1897. Central Congregational Church is the earliest of five Carrère and Hastings buildings in Rhode Island.
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| From: Architectural Record (1910): 12. |
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| From: Ryerson & Burnham Archives. Image dated c. 1906 |
The firm was active for a quarter century from 1885 until
Carrere’s death in 1911. The future partners had met as architecture students
at the École des Beaux-Arts in
Paris and then returned to New York City to work briefly for McKim, Mead &
White; in 1885 they established their own practice at 3 Bowling Green, New York, NY. From 1885-1890 as they were
launching their architecture firm, Hasting’s father was an important conduit
for commissions. Thomas S. Hastings (1827-1911) was a Presbyterian Minister in
New York City and dean of the Union Theological Seminary. He introduced the
young architects to their first important client, and this led to a major series of building commissions in St. Augustine, Florida. One of these was a church
building that clearly served as a design source for Central Congregational
Church.
St. Augustine, Florida church inspiration, 1889-90
St. Augustine, Florida church inspiration, 1889-90
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| Memorial Presbyterian Church, 36 Valencia St., St. Augustine, Florida (1889-March 16, 1890) |
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| Memorial Presbyterian Church, St. Augustine, 1890. Historic Buildings of America Survey photo, c. 1960. |
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| Front Door detail (Wikimedia Commons) |
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| Memorial Presbyterian Church, St. Augustine, 1890. Side Elevation (Wikimedia Commons) |
Designed as a larger complex, the St. Augustine Presbyterian Church plans and sketches can be studied online at the Carrere & Hastings Digital Collection, the Library of Congress - HABS report, and Wikimedia Commons.
Rev. Dr. Edward C. Moore and the 1890 Central Congregational Church commission:
The St. Augustine Presbyterian Church was
dedicated March 16, 1890. At this same time, members of the Central
Congregational Church in Providence voted to move farther up the East Side
hill from their historic downtown/Benefit St. origins and toward the
developing neighborhoods east of Hope St. The vote to move from their Thomas
Tefft designed brick church took place February 3, 1890 - and the corner lot on
Angell St was purchased in March 1890. Carrere & Hastings were quickly
chosen as architects.
Overseeing these major
changes was a new senior minister who had only been called to the church in
October 1889. Rev. Dr. Edward Caldwell Moore, served from 1889-1902, before
leaving for Harvard in March 1902 as Central Congregational Church
celebrated its 50th Anniversary. Laurie Ossman's 2011 research on the Central
commission emphasizes the connections between Rev. Moore and the father and son
Hastings. Moore had been a student of Rev. Hastings at the Union Theological
Seminary in the 1880s, and was about the same age as the architect. She cites
the correspondence between Central's new minister and the architect who had
been shaped as a minister's son, and mentions design discussions about why a
Renaissance revival style had conceptual merit for a Protestant church.
The design process lasted over a year, and the resulting building suggests
great care was taken.
The 1890-93 Interior:
"Among all church interiors in Providence this probably stands next in architectural interest after the colonial and early national interiors of the First Baptist [1775] and First Unitarian churches [1816], and is more unusual than either of its predecessors." This is a remarkable endorsement by three of Rhode Island's best architectural historians (Jordy, Onorato, Woodward 2004)
The interior “Greek Cross”
central plan features soaring Guastavino tile vaulting
(patented 1885) and decorative murals in the apse painted by Herman T.
Schladermundt – who worked on the St. Augustine church as well as the Library of Congress decorations c.1892-7. Beginning in 1907, an elaborate cycle of eight stained glass windows was added
by Tiffany collaborator, J. A. Holzer.
To be continued as context for the sensitive Wilson Chapel insertion.
Bibliography:
Carrere
& Hastings: the Masterworks. Ed. Laurie Ossman and Heather Ewing.
(New York: Rizzoli, 2011) 56-63.
Jordy, William, with Ronald Onorato
and W. M. Woodward, ed. Buildings of Rhode Island. (Cary, NC: Oxford University Press, 2004) 114-115.
Moore, Edward C. “Historical
Address”. Historical Manual of
Central Congregational Church, Providence, RI, 1852-1902. (Providence: E.L. Freeman and Sons, 1902)
31-41.
Ochsendorf, John. Guastovino
Vaulting: The Art of Structural Tile. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Architectural
Press, 2013) 59-70, 243n8-9.
Wilson, Richard Guy and Diane
Pilgrim. The American Renaissance,
1876-1917. (New York: Pantheon, 1979).
Woodward, William M. and Edward F.
Sanderson. Providence: A Citywide Survey
of Historic Resources. (Providence: Rhode Island Historical Preservation
Commission, 1986).
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