Holy Cross
Lutheran Church

2650 Miami Street (at Ohio)
St. Louis, Missouri 63118
www.holycrossstl.org

Holy Cross was the second Lutheran church on the south side of St. Louis, following Trinity Lutheran in Soulard. It began as a school in 1850 and organized as a church in 1858, worshipping in the chapel of Concordia Seminary, which was then located across the street. C. F. W. Walther, the founder and pastor of Trinity, managed the two churches along with the first two Lutheran churches on the north side, Immanuel and Zion, under one organization until his death in 1887. The setting of the present building, on a hill in a grove of old oaks, retains some of the suburban character it had when this was the edge of town. The cruciform plan of the church, reflecting its name, was suggested by Walther to the architect Charles Griese of the firm Griese & Weile of Cleveland. The nave and spire were erected in 1867, but the apse and transepts were not completed until 1889. Griese went on to rebuild Trinity to a similar design in 1873. That church was destroyed by the tornado of 1896, which also knocked down the steeple of Holy Cross. It was rebuilt, but considerably shorter. More work was done in 1908, when two more doors were added to the front. During that period, the interior was embellished with new art glass windows, a marble replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, and a painting, Christ in Gethsemane.

The school on Ohio Street was erected in 1914. At the time, this area was a hub of activity for the Missouri Synod Lutherans. Concordia Seminary was near here from 1850 to 1926, while Lutheran Hospital moved to a building just across the street in 1883. Concordia Publishing House, founded in 1869, remains at 3558 South Jefferson, and the German Cultural Society, founded in 1945, is at 3652 South Jefferson.


Notes by Esley Hamilton and Philip Barnes