The interior of St. Mary of the Barrens can easily rank as one of the most beautiful church interiors in the United States, and I’ve seen a lot of churches in my life. If you don’t remember my post on Il Gesù from back in November, go back and read it, and then come back…
Tag: Baroque Revival
St. Mary’s of the Barrens, Perryville
St. Mary’s of the Barrens takes its name from the prairie early settlers could not plow; instead, they turned to the loamy soil of the bottomlands along the river to farm. Established in 1818, the church also served alongside the oldest seminary west of the Mississippi. The Vincentians have long been associated with the church…
Perryville, Perry County, Missouri
We visited the town of Perryville in Perry County last weekend to check out the area and in particular the Shrine at St. Mary of the Barrens, which we’ll look at later this week. It’s an interesting and extremely old part of Missouri, with origins dating back to 1820, right around the founding of the…
Gimblin Street Over to Halls Ferry Road, Baden, May 2025
I turned left onto Gimblin Avenue from Church Road and looked at the vacant lots that had appeared in place of the abandoned houses I had photographed back in February of 2018. There are more burned out houses, as well. But the cool apartment building below, which I also looked at in February of 2018,…
The Past, Most Holy Name of Jesus
A reader requested some images of the interior of the former The Most Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church in College Hill, which I had featured recently due to its abandonment, vandalism and copper theft. One thing I do not know for sure is the status of the stained glass windows, whose main narrative…
St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church, Paducah
St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church caught my eye on the western end of Broadway Street. It dates back to 1848, though this is obviously not the original church. This church dates from 1899 and has the influence of the Baroque with its use of pedimented windows and unique bell towers. A half lunette…
Lindenwood School
Designed by George W. Sanger, Lindenwood School has now been converted into apartments, a common reuse for many of the closed educational buildings in the St. Louis Public School System. Like many of the schools inspired by the firm of Ittner and Milligan, it’s an interesting mix of styles. The central portal is firmly rooted…
Three Churches, St. Joseph
Originally organized in 1854, the current First Presbyterian Church dates from 1911, sitting at the corner of 7th and Jules streets. Edmond Jacques Eckel, perhaps the most famed, talented and ubiquitous architect in St. Joseph, as well as a collaborator Walter Boschen, designed the church. It’s a nice example of the Colonial Revival with a…
Leaving, Youngstown
After surveying the remnants of what had once been the workplace of literally tens of thousands of Americans, I worked my way out of Youngstown, passing through the neighborhoods where they once lived. I saw St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, which alludes to the Eastern European origins of many of the immigrants who once flooded…
Lake View Cemetery and Little Italy, Cleveland
A little bit of a latecomer in the Rural Cemetery Movement, Lake View Cemetery was founded in 1869, east of downtown Cleveland on rugged, steep terrain. While due to the growth of the city and mature trees, the name comes from what had once been a commanding view of Lake Erie. The grounds are lush,…