The tale begins in 1890 with the construction of the former Methodist Episcopal Church at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Henry Street, a couple of blocks to the northeast. Chapter Two entails the construction in 1899 of the First Presbyterian Church on the northwest corner of Second Avenue and Henry Street, about five blocks to the southeast. Chapter Three takes place in 1921 when the two congregations decide to unite, not only bringing together the congregations but their buildings, as well. In 1921 both churches are moved to their present location on the northwest corner of East Fourth Avenue and North Williams Street and, with a bit of modification, joined to become one. Three cornerstones for the foundation of the new church, dated 1890, 1899 and 1921, were laid on January 21, 1921.
Chapter Four takes place over 60 years later, in 1984. On September 7, 1984 a decision was made to place the historic church building on the national register of historic places and to build a new church building on the property behind the existing one. The congregation then decided, because of the many maintenance issues involved with the old building, to demolish it and give the lumber to a Nez Perce church building project within the Presbytery. When the building soon proved to be more sound than anticipated, it was decided to restore the building. Chapter Five begins in 1997 when the building was sold. Now re-named the Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center (the JACC) in honor of founders, Susan & Duane Jacklin, it operates as its own independent non-profit organization.
The
Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center is a performing arts centre, staging plays and concerts. The building is also available for weddings and similar events.
The Tale of Two Churches
The former Methodist Episcopal Church building was constructed in 1890 according to "Church Extension plan #51," apparently one of several architectural plans adopted by the Board of Church Extension of the Methodist Episcopal Church, whose headquarters were in Philadelphia. It was originally erected on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Henry Street. The building comprised a 50' x 32' sanctuary and a 14' x 28' Sunday school and entrance hall. The building contains many elements of the Gothic Revival style, including Gothic-arched windows; gable roofs with pierced aprons and eaves brackets; a bell tower rising from ground level at the intersection of the nave and transept-like Sunday school wing, topped by a lofty steeple; wooden corner buttresses; and colored leaded glass.
Mounted on the square bell tower above the church entry are round windows with elliptical muntins. Above them are sets of louvered rectangular bell-chamber openings. Above the louvers are sets of quatrefoil and trefoil bandsaw tracery matching the gable trim and eave brackets. Above the bell tower is an octagonal, wood-shingled spire that is nearly as tall as the church building itself. Atop the spire is the remnant of a turned-wood Latin cross.
The former First Presbyterian Church building was constructed in 1899 on the northwest corner of Second Avenue and Henry Street. It was an L-plan building of wooden frame construction including a gabled, 30* x 52* sanctuary, a 20' x 20' hip-roofed Sunday school room attached to the rear of the sanctuary, and a small entrance hall with a shed roof and two offset dormers. The exterior was finished with horizontal siding and vertical corner boards. The four-light windows arrayed along the length of the sanctuary were divided by muntins arranged in the form of the Latin cross. A squat, square bell tower with semi-circular bell openings surmounted by a pyramidal steeple and Latin cross was attached to the ridge a short distance back from the front gable end.
When the former First Presbyterian Church building was moved in 1921 to Fourth and William and joined to the former Methodist Episcopal Church building, several major alterations were undertaken. The Sunday school room was removed and in its place the former Methodist Episcopal Church building was attached. The shed-roofed entrance hall was replaced by a hipped-roofed porch and the bell tower-steeple complex was eliminated. Probably subsequent to the church building's
conversion to a Sunday school building, the former sanctuary windows were replaced by those of a Queen Anne motif, repeating the theme of the present sanctuary basement windows. A pierced apron was also added in the east gable, duplicating those on the gables of the former Methodist Episcopal Church building.
From the NRHP Nomination Form