McCredie United Methodist Church - near Kingdom City, MO - Victorian Style Architecture on Waymarking.com

County of church: Callaway County
Location of church: CR-240, east of CR-226, McCredie
Architect: M. Fred Bell
Date built: 1905
Pastor: Jack Gillespie
Architecture: Gothic Revival
Church Type: T-Plan

"Style: Gothic Revival
Type: Steepled Ell
Foundation: Concrete
Wall construction: Wood frame
Important features: Constructed c. 1905 with a c. 1966 addition, this one of the most intact and elaborate examples of a steepled-ell church in Callaway County. The frame building retains its original wood siding and many of the embellishments associated with M. Fred Bell and his church and residential architecture design. The two story tower topped by an open belfry is the most prominent feature of the church. The entrance is located in the first floor of the tower, the second floor is marked by round windows, and the belfry openings have scrolled brackets and turned balustrades. The tower has a witches-hat roof and bracketed eaves. The cross gables are marked by large Carpenter Gothic windows with tracery-like mullions and three tall, narrow, multi-light windows. Decorative scrollwork and turned verge boards mark the peaks of the gable. Though large in comparison with the original block of the church, the low pitched gable roof addition was added in a sensitive manner, allowing the majority of all four sides of the original block to remain exposed.

Outbuildings, Etc.: The church sits on the edge of what was the town of McCredie, once a railroad stop. The town has since been included in the city limits of Kingdom City. The church faces north, sits near the road, and is flanked on either side by flat grassy lawn apparently used occasionally for parking.

History and significance: Sources vary on the date of construction though most agree it was c. 1905. This is the only rural church in the county in which is easily associated with a known architect. The church was designed by prominent architect M. Fred Bell of Fulton. Bell was well known locally, and was commissioned for several State buildings and institutions in Missouri. The readily available county histories say little about the church. Despite the addition, this is a largely intact and well maintained example of a steepled-ell church type in Callaway County. The building may be eligible for listing in the National Register as a well preserved example of a Callaway County rural church type. Its connection with a significant architect also bolsters eligibility." ~ Historic Inventory Rural Churches of Callaway County, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, PDF page 260-262 [link below]