What: Walking Tour of Denver’s Historical Churches
When: May 20th 2015
8:45-9:00 1st Baptist Church, 1373 Grant St.
Time to check in. Remember, guides are late if they don’t arrive early. If you have to arrive late, just join us at the location and time posted.
9:00-9:45 1st Baptist Church 1373 Grant St 303-861-2501
TOUR- Pastor Brian Henderson and Grad Student of CU Denver David Duffield
9:50-9:55 First Church of Christ Scientist 1415 Logan St 303-893-1505
Brief History Outside by Jody Calton
10:00-11:00 Cathedral Basilica 401 E Colfax St 303-831-7010
TOUR-Alta
11:10-11:40 St Paul Church 1600 Grant St 303-839-1432
TOUR-Pastor Kevin, Ryan and Jody
11:50-12:50 Central Presbyterian 1660 Sherman St 303-839-5500
TOUR-Joe
1:00 -2:00 Brown Palace Lunch –Self pay/Cash Preference with 15% discount
(Price range not including discount: $9 and up soup and salads $15 and up appetizers, sandwiches and burger. This includes their Gluten-free menu.)
(Quick overview of Trinity on Bridge upstairs at Hotel after Lunch)
2:15-3:00 Trinity United Methodist 1820 Broadway 303-839-1493
TOUR-Lynn
Historic Churches of Downtown Denver
Guide Line Review
FAM – May 20, 2015
Historic Churches of Downtown Denver
Jody Calton
Our RMGA Fam tour of Historical Churches of Downtown Denver was held May 20, 2015 (in Cold May showers), with 22 members participating. tour guides are "hearty" bunch! Working together in planning of the FAM was Jody Calton, Lupe Duran, and Patricia Roswell, with an information packet put together by Jody.
Church history in Denver is like that of many frontier towns—quickly built, temporary facilities. Congregation often grew quickly and new facilities built. Often the forefathers quickly moved, and in Denver’s case, the American Civil War of the early 1860s took place; Denver had many strong supporters on the sides of both the North and the South. Sometimes “Mother Nature” had an influence on a church/congregation like flooding or fire!
We began our tour at First Baptist Church, 1373 Grant Street (14th Ave/Grant Street). This Church was organized in May, 1864, prior to Colorado’s 1876 statehood, and during the Civil War. It is the “oldest’ Baptist congregation in Denver. Out tour was hosted by Minister Brain Henderson and University of Colorado/Denver graduate student David Duffield. “Aunt” Clara Brown, most often associated with Central City, CO, where she also helped establish a Church, was one of the early pioneers in establishment of the Denver church. Build it the mid-1930s, during the Great Recession; it is considered “Christopher Wren” in architectural style. The large granite columns were turned on a lath in the middle of 14th avenue during construction; Ph. 303-861-2502.
Continuing on, we passed by First Church of Christ Scientist, 1415 Logan Street (14thAvenue/Grant Street—opposite corner). Designed by Lester Varian and Frederick Sterner in Neo-Classical Greek Revival style; it is constructed of white lava stone from Salida, CO. It has been said to be a building often referred to by professors for its exterior architectural design! It has a dome-shaped skylight roof—beautiful! (Ph. 303-893-1505)
Our next stop was the Basilica of Immaculate Conception Cathedra, 401 east Colfax (Grant Street & Colfax). This building is stunning both inside and out. Its soaring 210-foot towers grace the front on Colfax. They have each been struck one by lightning. There are 75 stained-glass windows, more than any other church of any denomination in America-they were made in Munich. The Pope visited the Basilica during “World Youth Day”, held in Denver in 1993. The “Unsinkable” Molly Brown, along with other well-known Denver citizens, helped in raising monies for construction of the Basilica in the early 1900s. The white walled interior of the church is a very impressive background for the windows, choir area, and the 3,000-pipe Kimball organ. French Gothic in design by Leon Coquard, Detroit, Michigan, and architects Aaron Gove and Thomas Walsh, the windows were designed by F.X. Zettler at the Royal Bavarian Art Institute—pattern and color records were lost during World War II. Our guide; Tim Westerfield, Ph. 303-831-7010.
St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1600 Grant Street (16th Avenue & Grant Street, ph.303-839-1432). It is a very busy church and part of the tour there was given by Rev. FR. Kevin Maly. This building is an example of Late Gothic Revival architecture from a Pennsylvania firm. Two memorial windows, designed by Payne Studios, Paterson, New Jersey, represent Jesus Resurrection and Ascension. It was home to the Swedish, German, and Scandinavian communities when first founded in 1884, and moved to this location in 1925. Throughout, it has helped the homeless, served daily as a community center, and place of worship. The church may be reached by calling 303-839-1432.
Central Presbyterian Church, 1600 Sherman Street (16th Avenue & Sherman Street) was another Church visited. It was designed by architect Frank Edbrooke in the Romanesque Revival style. The cornerstone was laid in 1891 and has served downtown Denver since. Permanent exhibits include a 150-year timeline, a Pastors’ roster, and a display of four families who were instrumental in the church development. Pastor Louis Westfall was our FAM guide. In 1876, several prominent parishioners wanted a suitable roof for the church. Donations solicited were from gamblers and saloon keepers as well—for a slate roof. The slates were of black and red. They were installed in a symmetrical design of eight large red diamonds on one side and seven on the others. For a time thereafter, the Church was unofficially known as the “Church of the Seven Spot Diamonds”. (Ph. 303-839-5500)
The final church was toured was Trinity United Methodist Church, 1820 Broadway (18thAvenue & Broadway). This church congregation is the “oldest” in Denver, dating back to 1859. The FAM guide, Lynn Willcockson, told us the first congregation met in Henry Brown’s carpenter shop, washed away in the 1864 Cherry creek Flood. Brown is known for the building the Brown Palace Hotel across Broadway. Design of the church was by Robert Roeschlaub in the Gothic Revival style and is built of rhyolite quarried in Castle Rock, CO.
The over 4,000-pipe organ built by Hilbourne Roosevelt was built and run by a Dynamo. This was turned by a waterwheel powered thru an artesian well in the basement. Trinity is most noted for is the stained-glass artwork designed by Healy and Millet of Chicago, using color and textured opalescent glass, uncommand from the painted-glass method of the time. One large window, by the renowned Tiffany Company, is composed of 12 spokes, representing the 12 apostles and the 12 tribes of Israel. The stained glass has been maintained by the Watkins family (Denver) for several generations. Many symbol/artifacts in the Church are in “threes”, indicative of the Trinity. Among its well-known members were John Evans, Second Territorial Governor of Colorado; Henry A. Buchtel who became Governor of Colorado in 1907, and the controversial John M. Chivington.
---Jody Calton
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