Saint John's Methodist Church - Stamford, TX - Frieze Art on Waymarking.com

"Designed by noted Dallas architect, James E. Flanders.

"St. John's is a large, buff-brick, gable-roofed church built on a cruciform plan. The largest and tallest roof is on a north-south axis, with slightly lower gables pushing out to the east and west from the center of the building to form the basic cross plan. A small, square cupola with a pavilion roof is located on the ridge of the main north-south roof, marking the center of the plan.

Square towers rise from the empty space on each corner of the building, somewhat obscuring the basic plan and making the structure appear to be square and monolithic. Three of the towers are no taller than the main roof line, but the northwest tower, over the main entry, is much taller. The three lesser towers are capped by pavilion roofs, while the terra-cotta friezes are found on all four sides of each tower. The taller tower is also capped by a pavilion roof, but it resides over an open belfry with two small wooden columns set in each opening. Verticality is stressed by the long, narrow louvers on each side of this tower.

A bell hip-roofed portico at the base of the taller northwest tower covers the main entrance of the church, while lesser entrances are found on the other three towers as well. The roofs of the main structure, the towers, and all porches were originally covered with metal shingles which are currently replaced with composition units.

The verticality of the structure is relieved somewhat by string courses which enrich the building. Gothic-style stained-glass windows are set in the ends of the main gables on the north and south sides of the building, while lesser one-over-one or fixed-pane stained-glass units are used elsewhere.