A Lost Legacy: Downtown's Historic Churches

A look back at some of the churches that once stood around Downtown Los Angeles.

Downtown's Churches: First Congregational

By Eric Richardson — July 11, 2008 — 4 Comments

California Historical Society: TICOR/Pierce

|Photo Gallery| First Congregational Church has been located west of Downtown at 6th and Commonwealth since 1932. That sort of stability hides the fact that the church was once a prolific site-hopper. Between 1867 and 1902, the congregation dedicated four new buildings, occupying sites on New High, 3rd, 6th and Hope.

— Continued Inside...

Downtown's Churches: St. Paul's Episcopal

By Eric Richardson — July 08, 2008
5 Comments

|Photo Gallery| The story of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church might well be best summed up as that of a city moving outward. Opened on July 13th, 1924, St. Paul’s Cathedral stood on the outskirts of Downtown – at 6th and Figueroa. The site was the church’s third, and each time the city had grown up around it. As with many Downtown churches, that continued...

Downtown's Churches: First Methodist Episcopal at 8th and Hope

By Eric Richardson — July 07, 2008 — 2 Comments

California Historical Society: TICOR/Pierce

|Photo Gallery| Opened on July 8th, 1923, the First Methodist Episcopal Church at 813 S. Hope was the most expensive church constructed to date by the denomination. The structure, with a four-story Sunday school building and an auditorium that sat 3,000 visitors, cost $1 million. Acquiring the land added another $500,000 to the total. The church’s organ was $50,000, while three mosaic glass panels by Tiffany cost $5,000 each.

Noteworthy as a place of worship in its early days, the church’s later days were marked by a failed attempt to save what would now have been South Park’s landmark structure. — Continued Inside...

A Lost Legacy: Downtown's Historic Churches

By Eric Richardson — July 03, 2008
13 Comments

Like most cities, the architecture of downtown Denver is punctuated by its historic churches. Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1887, sits right across the street from modern office buildings. Other century-old churches dot the spaces between civic structures and new condos. Whether one is religious or not, the buildings provide a distinct style of...