The stretch of Union Boulevard just north of Delmar features one of the greatest civic ensembles of buildings in St. Louis.
Over the next week, I will take a look at these buildings, many by some of the most famous architects in St. Louis.
First up is Pilgrim Congregational Church. It is the original occupant, and alive and well to this day. I suspect they are very financially healthy due to donations from William Danforth, the founder of Ralston-Purina.
Though the church was founded in 1866, this current church was designed by Mauran, Russell and Garden in 1906, showing the westward push of the wealthy towards the West End in the time of the World’s Fair.
It is a Romanesque Revival church, reminding me more of Italian churches with some German influence in its expression of the Romanesque style. The clocks are broken, unfortunately.
Interestingly, a little Gothic Revival chapel joins its larger sanctuary to the south.
This will be the next Central Corridor neighborhood to explode.
I am on the church council and would like to give an update . A lot has happened since 2015.
We have a new roof, completed significant tuckpointing and waterproofing projects, have repainted the interior of the sanctuary and refinished the floors. Many new electrical, heating, and air conditioning projects have also been completed.
We are starting to refinish the floors on the balcony level and finish some other general repairs, but the building looks fantastic. Come check it out sometime.
Also, the clocks do work. They were converted from a weighted pendulum system in the 1960’s and the original clock mechanism from our original Washington Avenue location still works and can drive the clockfaces and bells. It does need some refurbishing though so we do not usually run the clocks.
Another interesting “note” is that our 10 bells were cast by the same bell foundry as the Centennial Bell at Independence Hall. They actually were cast as the next work order for the foundry – right after the Centennial Bell had been produced. They do work quite well.
Thank You,
Jeff Webb
Pilgrim Congregational Church UCC
St. Louis
Oh wow, thanks for all that information!
Your Welcome! Our building Engineer loves to give tours and is a wealth of information. If you ever want to come for a tour, just contact us at 314-367-8173.