Gethsemane Lutheran Church
Gethsemane Lutheran Church and Luther Hall | |
30°16′40″N 97°44′22″W / 30.27778°N 97.73944°W / 30.27778; -97.73944 | |
Area | 0.2 acres (0.081 ha) |
---|---|
Built | 1882 |
Built by | Fredric Reichow, S. A. Carlson |
Architect | August Swenson |
Architectural style | Gothic revival |
NRHP reference No. | 70000766[1] (original) 04001398[2] (increase) |
RTHL No. | 14770 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | August 25, 1970 |
Boundary increase | December 23, 2004 |
Designated RTHL | 1962 |
Gethsemane Lutheran Church is a historic Lutheran church in downtown Austin, Texas. Designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (together with neighboring Luther Hall), the building currently holds offices of the Texas Historical Commission.
History
The first Swedish Lutheran Church in Austin began meeting in 1868. In late 1882 the Swedish Lutherans decided to build a new meeting place near the Texas State Capitol grounds. Construction was completed the following year, after which the congregation occupied the building.[3] A second structure, named Luther Hall, was built adjacent to the main building in 1940 to provide additional meeting and activity space. The congregation relocated to a new space in 1961, after which the facility was purchased by the State of Texas and became part of the State Capitol Complex.[4]
After the Lutheran congregation left the church in 1961, community members began arguing for historical preservation of the structure. The church was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1962,[5] and the sanctuary was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 25, 1970.[6] The NRHP listing was later expanded to include neighboring Luther Hall on December 23, 2004.[7]
The facility was renovated and restored between 1970 and 1971 to serve as office, library and museum space for the Texas Historical Commission,[8] together with the nearby Carrington–Covert House. Since 1998 the sanctuary has held the THC's library, while Luther Hall currently provides office space for the commission's History Programs Division.[4]
Architecture
The Gethsemane Lutheran Church sanctuary building is a rectangular two-story hall of tan bricks atop a limestone foundation and basement with a gray pressed tin roof, featuring a square bell tower and steeple rising another story higher from the center front. The building is designed in a Gothic revival style, with brick buttresses and cornices and tall lancet windows with brick hood moulds.[4] The church's designing architect was August Swenson, and its builder was Fredric Reichow, with S. A. Carlson as contractor.[3]
The sanctuary building has a rectangular plan oriented east-to-west, with the main facade and tower on the east and an apse on the west. The main entrance is in the base of the projecting steeple, in the form of a Gothic arch with a stained-glass transom window above paneled wood double doors. The second level of the tower features a stained-glass lancet window and is topped by a cornice. Above the cornice, a hipped roof narrows the tower to an octagonal Carpenter Gothic cupola and belfry, topped by a conical roof terminating in a cross-shaped finial.[4]
The north and south faces of the building each display five parallel stained-glass lancet windows separated by brick buttresses. The entrance arch and all the windows include brick hood moulds. The exterior bricks for the building were salvaged from the ruins of the second (1852) Texas State Capitol, which burned in 1881, and the main doors were taken from the University of Texas at Austin's Old Main building in the 1930s when it was demolished to make way for the current Main Building.[4]
Luther Hall
Luther Hall is a two-story rectangular hall of brick and limestone on a concrete foundation, situated immediately to the west of the sanctuary. The hall was designed in a Modern Movement style, with simple symmetrical lines. The main facade features a recessed entry with double doors and a transom (recalling the sanctuary's main entry) beneath a stepped parapet bearing a medallion representing the coat of arms of Martin Luther.[4]
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Travis County, Texas
- Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Travis County
References
- ^ "National Register Information System – Gethsemane Lutheran Church and Luther Hall (#70000766)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
- ^ "National Register Information System – Gethsemane Lutheran Church and Luther Hall (Boundary Increase) (#04001398)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
- ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form (70000766)" (PDF). National Park Service. August 25, 1970. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form – (04001398)" (PDF). National Park Service. December 23, 2004. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- ^ "Details for Gethsemane Church (Atlas Number 5507014770)". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- ^ "Details for Gethsemane Lutheran Church (Atlas Number 2070000766)". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- ^ "Details for Gethsemane Lutheran Church and Luther Hall (boundary extension) (Atlas Number 2004001398)". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- ^ "A 10K Walk Through German-Texas Heritage in Austin, Texas." University of Texas at Austin. 3/6. Retrieved on November 15, 2009.
External links
- Media related to Gethsemane Evangelical Lutheran Church (Austin) at Wikimedia Commons
- v
- t
- e
- Arnold Bakery
- Austin Daily Tribune Building
- Blue Bonnet Court
- Brown Building
- Cambridge Tower
- Driskill Hotel
- Goodman Building
- Green Pastures
- Haehnel Building
- Lundberg Bakery
- Millett Opera House
- Norwood Tower
- Paramount Theatre
- J. P. Schneider Store
- Scholz Garten
- Victory Grill
- Westgate Tower
- All Saints' Episcopal Church
- Anderson Stadium
- Austin Central Fire Station 1
- Austin Fire Drill Tower
- Austin History Center
- Austin State Hospital
- Battle Hall
- Camp Mabry
- George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center
- Central Christian Church
- Elisabet Ney Museum
- French Legation
- General Land Office Building
- Gethsemane Lutheran Church
- Dewitt C. Greer State Highway Building
- Hyde Park Presbyterian Church
- Lamar Boulevard Bridge
- Littlefield House
- Montopolis Bridge
- Moonlight Towers
- O. Henry Hall
- Oakwood Cemetery
- Royal Arch Masonic Lodge
- James E. Rudder State Office Building
- St. David's Episcopal Church
- St. Edward's University Main Building
- St. Mary's Cathedral
- Scottish Rite Dormitory
- Seaholm Power Plant
- Texas Federation of Women's Clubs Headquarters
- Texas Governor's Mansion
- Texas State Capitol
- Texas State Cemetery
- Third Street Railroad Trestle
- Town Lake Gazebo
- United States Courthouse (1936)
- University Baptist Church
- University Junior High School
- Anthony and Louise Viaer Alumni Hall
- Wesley United Methodist Church
- West Fifth Street Bridge
- West Sixth Street Bridge
- Bremond Block Historic District
- Clarksville Historic District
- Congress Avenue Historic District
- Hyde Park Historic District
- Little Campus
- Moore's Crossing Historic District
- Old West Austin Historic District
- Rainey Street Historic District
- Shadow Lawn Historic District
- Sixth Street Historic District
- Swedish Hill Historic District
- Travis Heights-Fairview Park Historic District
- West Line Historic District
- Willow–Spence Streets Historic District
- Aynesworth–Wright House
- Judge Robert Lynn Batts House
- Genaro P. and Carolina Briones House
- Brizendine House
- Carrington–Covert House
- Daniel H. and William T. Caswell Houses
- Frank M. and Annie G. Covert House
- Cox–Craddock House
- J. Frank Dobie House
- Fischer House
- Granger House and The Perch
- Hildreth–Flanagan–Heierman House
- Henry Hirshfeld House and Cottage
- A. J. Jernigan House
- Keith House
- Laguna Gloria
- Peter and Clotilde Shipe Mansbendel House
- Mayfield–Gutsch Estate
- McKinney Homestead
- Millett Opera House
- Neill–Cochran House
- Oliphant–Walker House
- Page–Gilbert House
- Perry Estate–St. Mary's Academy
- William Sidney Porter House
- Louis and Mathilde Reuter House
- Roberts Clinic
- Robinson–Macken House
- Sheeks–Robertson House
- Col. Monroe M. Shipe House
- Smith–Marcuse–Lowry House
- Southgate–Lewis House
- Wahrenberger House
- Woodlawn
- Goodall Wooten House
- Worrell–Ettlinger House
- Ziller House