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100 East Adams
Avenue
Kirkwood, Missouri 63122
www.kirkwoodpres.org
The Kirkwood Association, a group of St. Louis businessmen taking their
name from James Kirkwood, the chief engineer of the Pacific Railroad,
officially platted their new town on May 31, 1853. They were led by
Hiram Leffingwell, the real estate developer who had proposed Grand
Boulevard the previous year and who was later to promote the creation of
Forest Park. The railroad was the impetus for the new community, having
begun service to the area just two weeks earlier. Kirkwood thus became
the first planned commuter suburb in St. Louis County, and this year
marks its 150th anniversary. As a legal municipality, Kirkwood is second
in the County only to Florissant, having been incorporated in 1865.
The First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood was one of the first to serve
the new community, organized on September 24, 1854 by a group of seven
former members of Second, Central, and Des Peres Presbyterian churches.
In 1857, the Kirkwood Association gave the land at the southeast corner
of Adams and the present Kirkwood Road, and a plain brick building was
erected. Dr. John R. Warner arrived as the first full-time pastor in
1867. His granddaughter, the poet Marianne Moore, was born in the manse
next to the church on November 15, 1887. The next year the brick church
was replaced by a larger stone one designed by J.G. Cairns. Young
Marianne and her family left Kirkwood after Dr. Warner died in 1894.
As
the church grew, additions were made in 1929 and 1951. Then in 1956-57
an entirely new sanctuary designed by Fisher & Campbell was built to
seat almost 1,000 on the site of the old manse. Robert Fisher and Will
Campbell were both recent graduates of Washington University and members
of the congregation. Campbell later recalled how they retreated to
Colorado for five weeks to work on their plans, inspired by the
mountains. Other inspirations included the post-war churches Dominikus
Boehm and others in Germany and Scandinavia. The resulting building
combines Indiana limestone and coral-colored brick to create a
traditional space with modern detailing. Since the large sanctuary
extends back through the depth of the lot, the dominant element from the
street is the broad-arched arcade, which effectively screens the
disparate older additions behind it and integrates the new building with
them. Inside, the notable structural features are the tall columns,
which define side aisles arched by internal flying buttresses. Joseph
Meyer of Jacoby Art Glass Company designed the 13 towering stained glass
windows for the apse and 74 small windows for the east wall. Above the
altar Jesus is depicted, while to the left are six authors of the Old
Testament (Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, David and Daniel) and to the
right six authors of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter
and Paul), each with two quotations and related scenes below. The
symbols in the east windows include on the lowest register the winged
creatures of the four Evangelists and above them attributes of the
Apostles (such as the X-shaped cross for Andrew).
Renovations to the church in 1979 included demolition of the 1888
building, leaving the tower in a park-like setting. The congregation
began to consider another round of building in June 2003, when designs
by the award-winning firm of Powers-Bowersox were unveiled to replace
the 1929 and 1951 wings with more easily accessible spaces.
November 9, 2003 marks the Chamber Chorus’ first performance here.
Notes by
Esley Hamilton and
Philip
Barnes
Photos by Roger Hill
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