County of building: St. Charles County
Location of building: N 3rd St. & Franklin St., NW corner, St. Charles
Built: 1869
Architectural Style: Gothic Revival
Classified: C
Frenchtown District Map
" ... The only Gothic church, now St. Paul's United
Methodist at 801 N. Third, was built in the early 1870s by
the Methodist Church (North), but sold a few years later to a
white Baptist group after many Methodists involved in
construction of the St. Charles bridge moved out of town.
Since the turn-of-the-century, it has been occupied by a
black congregation. Although its brick masonry walls are now
stuccoed, the major articulating features such as stepped
buttresses and drip moldings are not compromised. ... " ~ Final Report, St. Charles City Survey Page 15
"At the turn of the century, two black institutions, St. Paul's Methodist Church and Franklin Public School, located in Frenchtown across the street from each other in buildings which had been erected earlier by white institutions. Although a few 19th century Frenchtown French families were racially mixed, and a few other owned slaves, there is no evidence which suggests any concentration of blacks living in Frenchtown. The 1910 census showed about thirty scattered black
families (most employed at ACF); a few lived in the 400 block of
Morgan, close to the church and school, and- the remainder occupied
houses further north along N. Third and Fourth Streets.
"The small brick Gothic Revival church on the northwest corner of
Franklin and N. Third Streets was erected in 1869 on land donated to the Methodist Church of St. Charles by Henry F. Copes, who had inherited the parcel from a relative, Mane Louise Duquette, Francois' widow. Known as the "Working Men's Chapel", the church was Intended to serve the numerous laborers who had settled in Frenchtown for the construction of the railroad bridge. Upon completion of the bridge, declining membership forced the sale of the building in 1871 to the Franklin Street Baptist Church. However, since 1891, (and perhaps earlier) a black congregation has been worshipping in the church." ~ NRHP Nomination Form, PDF page 31
"Late Victorian, circa 1865-1905, Coded C
Represented in this chronological period are 62 buildings
(about 30% of the total) whose forms and detailing frequently mix
various related Picturesque styles, including Italianate, Mansard,
Gothic Revival, and Queen Anne. Eighteen of the total are frame and
the remainder are brick. The majority of these buildings express
stylistic influence primarily in ornamental detailing, new roof forms and in irregular plan shapes in houses. Italianate examples are
limited to two, 1860s large brick houses featuring prominent bracketed
cornices and to a couple of commercial/residential buildings which employ bracketed cornices, and in one case, an ornamental cast Iron storefront. New picturesque roof profiles are found in houses exhibiting dormered mansard roofs (and Italianate
bracketed cornices), or prominent gable-front facades; separately,
roofed, spindlework wood porches are also typically found sometimes in more conversative side-gabled houses. Gable front-and-wing designs as well as cross-gable extensions from hipped roofs create irregular plans or several small houses and also as a few two-story Queen Anne houses which feature decorative surface patterning on gables. One two-story commercial building at 900 N Second employs a Mansard roof." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Built: c. 1870
Wall: Brick painted
Roof: gable / asphalt
Foundation: concrete
Architectural: Gothic Revival
Does not appear on the 1869 Bird's Eye View, but the 1875 Atlas map indicates a chapel on the lot. R. Vinson states it was built for Wabash workers in 1865, and since 1871 has been St. Paul M. E. Church (for blacks)." ~ St. Charles City Historic Survey PDF pages 118-119