Stearnes Steeple - Amherst, MA - Unique Steeples on Waymarking.com

In Amherst, on the Amherst College campus, is the Stearns Steeple.

The steeple is located by the art museum.

The steeple is a stone structure, with four sides at the base that go up three floors and an eight sided spire. There is an entrance on one side. There is mostly grey stone with brown layers and accents. Right beside it is a sign that states:

"Stearns Steeple

This striking High Victorian Gothic Revival steeple is a cherished architectural vestige of College Church or Stearns Church, which stood on this site for 79 years from 1873 to 1949. In 1864, William F. Sterns, eldest son of President William A. Sterns and a prosperous Boston merchant, presented $10,000 to the College for erecting a proper church. Although founded upon the principles of Congregationalism, the church never assumed a denominational name.

Various factors postponed its construction following the Civil War. Building commenced in 1870 under the direction of architect William A. Potter, appointed by the college's board of trustees. Potter executed his basiliean (cross-shaped) design, which could accommodate 600 worshippers, primarily using the local stone known as Pelham gneiss with contrasting elements in redstone, red granite and limestone. Stearns Church was dedicated formally in 1873.

The steeple originally stood between the north and east arms of the church, and functioned as its entrance. Even in the church's halcyon days, the steeple was the most identifiable and ramarkable feature, rising over 130 feet, thus, serving as a marker for miles around. The steeple resonated with personal, spiritual, and historical symbolism. Bostonian George Howe, whose son, Sidney Walker Howe (Class of 1859), fell in the Battle of Williamsburg in 1862, donated the spire's nine bells, 'to chime on all suitable occasions, connected with Amherst College, who lost their lives in the war against the great rebellion of 1861.'

By 1908, the church required costly repairs and expansion, prompting a debate over its utility. It deteriorated further over the next three decades as the College gradually assumed a more scular identity. With the moving of Sunday vespers in 1933 to the newly renovated Johnson Chapel, Stearns Church was effectively rendered obsolete. After much institutional deliberation, the site was selected for a new art building, to be financed from the generous bequest of architect William R. Mead (Class of 1867) and his wife, Olga. When Stearns Church was razed in 1949 the steeple was retained as a monument to the former church.

To transform the steeple from an architectural component into a free-standing structure, it was encloseOriginally, the inscriptions must have served ad on its south and west sides using materials from the demolition, including stained glass windows that previous flanked the alter. This repurposing of materials presumably accounts for the inscribed...Originally, the inscriptions must have served a clearer function, possibly as memorial markers. Today,the steeple remains a campus landmark, from which, on occasion, its chimes still ring.

Location of the Steeple: Amherst College Campus Amherst, MA United States of America 01002 Approximate Date of Construction: 1/1/1873 Website: Not listed

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