First Baptist Church - Phoenix, AZ
N 33° 27.029 W 112° 04.671
12S E 399824 N 3701748
One of Phoenix's oldest churches was gutted by fire in 1984.
Waymark Code: WMM38A
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 07/13/2014
Views: 5
From Wikipedia (
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"The First Baptist Church at 302 West Monroe Street in Phoenix, Arizona was built in 1929. While local architects Fitzhugh & Byron "prepared the working drawings and supervised the building's construction," it was mainly designed by supervising architect George Merrill "of the Department of Architecture of the American Baptist Home Mission Society in New York."
It was designed in an Italian Gothic style, but includes Moderne and other architectural elements."
The church is just a block away from Phoenix City Hall and two blocks away from downtown Phoenix and light rail. The church was in use until 1969.
In 1984 a fire gutted the interior, leaving the church without a roof while the exterior walls and bell tower remained standing. In 1992 it was saved from demolition by placement on the National Register of Historic Places. Preservationists in Phoenix are actively campaigning to reuse the church by turning the interior into an open-air urban garden that would host concerts and other cultural activities. Source: (
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The Arizona Republic recently published a "Then & Now" comparative photo essay of the church, which are posted here as well as my personal picture. There is no marker about the fire at the site, and looking at the building you would never know that the inside was gone.