The Tabb Steet Presbyterian Church is a monumental, temple-form structure of stuccoed brick with granite detailing, located at 21 West Tabb Street in Petersburg. Designed by Thomas U. Walter in 1843, The building is fronted by a massive Greek Doric pedimented peristyle portico consisting of six fluted columns and full entablature... Attached to the rear is a large, three-story brick addition built in 1944 to house additional meeting rooms and the Sunday School. The wing, although insensitive to the older structure, is not obtrusive from the front. The original steeple, consisting of a tapered octagonal spire above a square pilastered belfry, was removed in 1938.
Erected in 1843 for Petersburg's Presbyterian congregation, Tabb Street 'Presbyterian Church is a moving example of the Greek Revival style. The church was designed by one of America's foremost architects, Thomas U. Walter of Philade1phia;'whois best remembered as the designer of the dome of the United States Capitol. Although Walter worked in numerous historical styles, his proficiency in the Greek is well illustrated in the heroic yet graceful lines of Tabb Street Church. The interior, with its apse fronted by a curved screen of columns in a freely interpreted Temple of the Winds order, is one of the more dramatic spaces of its type in the country. In Tabb Street, as well as in two of his other Virginia commissions, Walter demonstrated how solemn classical forms could be adapted for Christian purposes and enhance the dignity of worship.