Tucked away on a quiet side street in St. Louis Hills, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church might very well be one of the first expressions of Modernist ecclesiastic architecture in St. Louis.

The church, constructed in 1939, created quite the stir when it opened, and was featured in a glowing review article in the Globe-Democrat by Nancy Blair. Designed by Nagel & Dunn in the “modern functional” style, apparently it was the product of a small budget of $75,000, which affected the final form and composition.

Of particular interest is the statue of St. Mark, which is in fact the work of a woman, Sheila Burlingame, whose life you can learn a little bit about here. St, Mark is easily identified by the lion at his feet.

The donor for the church dedicated in the name of his mother, I believe.

The stained glass windows are by the firm of Emil Frei & Associates, and there are actually some interesting symbols in the composition. One figure, representing greed, was supposedly depicted as Adolf Hitler. I don’t know if I necessarily believe that, but it was reported as such at the time.

As noted in the article, “Nagel,” the surname of one of the two architects, does in fact mean nail in German, and you can see in the large spread featuring the church published in the Globe-Democrat, a figure very prominently hammers a nail in one Emil Frei stained glass window.

To see views of the interior, go to Built St. Louis; I was unfortunately unable to gain access when I visited but you can see some of the wonderful Emil Frei windows at the link.

The two pavilions on either side of the church proper do not detract from the overall composition of the church proper.