Steeple to Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church - Cedron, MO - Unique Steeples on Waymarking.com

County of church: Moniteau County
Location of site: Cedron Rd & Zey St., Cedron (ghost town), ½ mile W. of MO-D, and several miles W. of Jamestown
Approved listing: 4 February 2014
Built: 1908
Architect: O.E. Sprouce
Architectural Style: Late Gothic Revival

This was once a town founded by Germans. The church was built in 1874, but the steeple was not built until 1903. It is unique because of the late attachment to the church, and the fact that later the openings were bricked closed to prevent water from storms entering the steeple.
It is over 100 feet high and is constantly maintained.
I came here because a US Marine, DDerps, is buired in this cemetery.

" ... Originally a brick gable-end church, constructed in 1867-1872 as the congregation outgrew its earlier log structure, the brick church took on its current center-steeple appearance in 1903. At that time a three-tiered brick bell tower and sacristy (including apse and vestry) were built from plans by O.E. Sprouce. The church entrance faces west under the bell tower. The church is the center of a small historic district containing four contributing buildings and one contributing site. ...

"Construction of the church began in 1867 and the nave was completed in 1872. Originally a gable-end church type with parapetted front and rear walls, the building took on its current exterior appearance in 1903 with the addition of a tower and sacristy. The church has Gothic Revival style details most notable in its fenestration ... It is a brick, center steeple building measuring 31 feet by 80 feet with a stone foundation under concrete parging and brick exterior walls. The main block of the building has a gabled asphalt shingle roof, a centered tower with steeply pitched polygonal roof (steeple) is at the front (west) side of the building, and an apse/sacristy addition is to the east.

"Characteristic of the type, the most prominent feature of the church is the three tiered bell tower centered on the west façade flanked to either side by blank brick walls. The projecting tower measures 12 feet by 12 feet in depth and width and is 100 feet in height. The height measurement includes the polygonal steeple covered by metal roofing and topped by a cross. The tower serves as the entrance foyer to the church, and paired wood paneled (2/2) doors topped by a Gothic arched transom provide interior access. ... The belfry has been partially bricked in to hold Gothic lancet arch louver installed to protect the bell and limit water infiltration into the interior of the tower, a common alteration in many examples of the rural center steeple church type." ~ NRHP Nomination Form