County of building: Saint Charles County
Location of structure: Jefferson St. & N Benton St., NW corner, St. Charles
Built: 1872
Architect: Unknown
Architectural Style: Gothic Revival
Original Occupant: Presbyterian Church
Map
"250. 550 Jefferson Street; Old Jefferson Street Presbyterian Church; Gothic Revival; circa 1870; Contributing
The Old Jefferson Street Presbyterian Church is a T-shaped, red brick Gothic Revival style building with a coursed rock-faced stone foundation and a steeply-pitched, cross-gabled roof. The entrance is in a tall Gothic-arched opening that holds paired replacement doors and an enclosed transom. To each side of the doorway is an ogee-arched window opening with paired 2-light windows deeply set in the tracery wood frames. Above the entrance is a large Gothic-arched tracery window and a rosette window is near the gable peak. The 3-tiered tower at the southeast corner of the façade has corner buttresses and a
continuous sloped lintel course for the second floor segmental-arched window. On the first floor are 2 Gothic arched faux window openings. The third level has an ogee-arched wood louvered opening into the belfry. At the top of the tower are a crenellated brick parapet and a pyramidal roof set behind the parapet. The 5-tiered tower at the southwest corner (which may have originally been on top of the
southeast tower) has a base that appears to be newer construction (probably built as a base for the old tower top). The first tier has a single Gothic-arch faux window with a sloped stone ledge to the next
level, which has paired, slender, Gothic-arch faux windows. Above is a crenellated course with another sloped stone ledge to an octagonal level topped by another crenellated section. Above that the top
section has a domed top with Tudor arched openings on alternating facets of the octagonal section. On the west elevation, nestled on the interior corner of the cross-gabled wings, is a tall exterior end brick chimney. The Jefferson Street Presbyterian Church was built circa 1870, a few years after the congregation split over the issue of slavery and the Civil War." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Built: 1872 ca.
Style/Design: Gothic Revival
The Jefferson Street Presbyterian Church as built in 1867 after the congregation split over the issue of slavery and the Civil War.
It is shown on the first Sanborn map of St. Charles in 1886, but it is not visible on the 1869 Bird’s Eye View of the town, which is
perplexing given the historical evidence provided by Drummond. Based upon the fire insurance maps, what was originally
identified in 1886 as a 75 foot tall spire at the southeast corner of the church was measured as a 90 foot tower in 1893, so the
corner tower appears to have been built between 1886 and 1893. Drummond noted that a storm destroyed the original tall steeple
in 1911 (probably the 1911 tornado that hit St. Charles). The tower was apparently modified, reduced to a 45 foot tower. Between
1917 and 1929, the southwest corner on the map shows the slight extension where the other tower is now located. It appears that
this tower is actually the upper portion of the original 90 foot tower, relocated when it was removed, but this has not been verified
with research. The other perplexing notation on the fire insurance maps is that the 1900 and 1917 maps show hipped roof
outlines on the building but there is no indication that the roofline changed from the crossed gables. By 1900, the map also noted
the furnace heat and electric lights, probably added between 1893 and 1900. The building was used as the Jefferson Street
Presbyterian Church through at least 1952. By the time the 1955 directory was published, there was no listing for this property
and in 1957 the address was listed as vacant. By 1959, a new congregation had moved into the building, the Church of God
(Holiness), now called Church of God Holiness.
"This red brick church has cross gables creating a T-shaped plan. The steeply pitched roof was noted in the 1886 Sanborn map
as being a “very sharp roof.” The main entry is located along Jefferson Street in a tall Gothic arch doorway with paired doors and
an enclosed transom. To either side of the entry is an ogee arched window opening with paired, two-light windows deeply set in
the tracery wood frames. Above the entry is a large, Gothic arched tracery window and there is a rosette window near the gable
peak. The tower at the southeast corner of the façade is tiered into three sections, with corner buttresses and a continuous sloped
lintel course for the second floor segmental arched, sashed window. On the first floor level there are two Gothic arched faux
window openings. The third level has a wood louvered, ogee arched opening into the belfry. At the top of the tower, there is a
crenellated brick parapet and a pyramidal roof set behind the castellated parapet. The east elevation of the square tower is
similarly oriented but on the north side there are no windows, but there is a louvered opening into the belfry as there is in the
upper level of the west side of the tower. The tower at the southwest corner (which probably was originally on top of the southeast
tower) is also tiered into five sections. The base appears to be newer construction (probably built to as a base for the old tower
top). The first tier has a single Gothic arch faux window with a sloped stone ledge to the next level, which has paired slender Goth
arch faux windows. Above is a crenellated course with another sloped stone ledge to an octagonal level topped by another
crenellated section and above that the top section has a domed top with Tudor arched openings on alternating facets of the
octagonal section. The side elevations have five Gothic arched, tracery windows separated by brick buttresses. To the north of
the windows on the east elevation, the cross gabled wing has another entry into the church from North Benton Street. In this
gabled wing are windows and doors matching the Jefferson Street façade, except without a rosette window. The corners of this
wing also have angled buttresses. On the rear, north elevation, there are five Gothic arched openings, but the windows have been
modified; the east one is a faux window opening and the upper halves of the other windows have been covered with boards on
top of the original wood frames of the tracery windows. There are also two windows near the corner of this wing on the west
elevation and nestled on the interior corner of the cross gabled wings is a tall exterior brick chimney. The church has a rock-faced,
coursed limestone foundation. The only other alterations visible are the replacement doors on both street elevations, the concrete
ramp up to the front entry and the metal railings on this ramp and the stairs to the east entry.
"The small metal utility shed directly behind the church is a moveable structure." ~ St. Charles Historic Survey Phase I, PDF pages 261-264