First Presbyterian Church of Redmond
Encyclopedia
Built in 1912, the First Presbyterian Church of Redmond is the oldest standing church structure in the city of Redmond
, Oregon
, United States. It is also the second-oldest religious building in Deschutes County
. The church was built in the Gothic Revival
style with Queen Anne
architectural detailing. It was the home of Protestant congregations from 1912 until 1979. Today, the building is privately owned and used as a special events venue. The First Presbyterian Church of Redmond was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 2001.
. The Pendleton Presbytery had sent Reverend George to Central Oregon
in 1905 to minister to the Tumalo
community fifteen miles southwest of Redmond. Shortly after arriving, a number of Redmond residents asked him to conduct Presbyterian services in their community as well. Over the next few years, George established the Redmond congregation with the help of Reverend J. W. Mitchell of the Sisters
Presbyterian Church and Reverend Levi Johnson, an itinerant pastor who eventually founded eleven churches in Eastern Oregon
communities.
The new Presbyterian congregation held services in a number of locations around the city. In 1910, the congregation bought three adjacent lots along 7th Street in downtown Redmond for a permanent church building. A ground-breaking ceremony was held on July 31, 1911. The building was completed the following spring and dedicated on June 30, 1912. Shortly after the church's dedication, Redmond's local newspaper reported that the church had cost $5,000 to build and had seating capacity for 250 parishioners.
The church continued to grow along with the city of Redmond. In 1929, the First Methodist Church of Redmond had lost its minister and was struggling financially so by mutual consent, the First Methodist congregation was merged into the First Presbyterian Church. The combined congregation sold the First Methodist Church property, retaining the First Presbyterian Church and its minister. With permission from the Pendleton Presbytery, the church was officially renamed the Redmond Community Presbyterian Church on October 1, 1929.
A major renovation of the church was begun in 1943 and completed in the spring of 1944. The changes included reorienting the sanctuary
. The original design had the congregation seated in a semicircle facing east. In the new design, the pews were set in parallel rows along the length of the building facing north. A classroom area was open up and incorporated into the sanctuary to provide space for the altar
, pulpit
, and choir seating at the north end of the room. The church's new sanctuary was dedicated on June 18, 1944. A large non-historic education and fellowship hall was built next to the original church in 1948.
The church and adjacent fellowship hall were used by the Presbyterian congregation until 1979, when the church was relocated to a new facility on N.W. 19th Street. The buildings were then sold to a private investor, but the historic church structure remained vacant until 1992. The original 1912 building was resold at that time, and the new owners opened the Redmond School of Dance in the historic building. The dance school closed in 2003 and the building was once again sold to investors. In 2004, the building was purchased for use as a special events venue. Today, the building houses a private business known as The Historic Redmond Church. It rents space for weddings, concerts, lectures, art exhibits, workshops, and community meetings.
The First Presbyterian Church of Redmond is the oldest church building in the city and the second-oldest religious structure in Deschutes County. Because of the building's Gothic Revival architecture and its importance to the history of Central Oregon, the First Presbyterian Church of Redmond was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 3, 2001.
The church was built in the Gothic Revival style with Queen Anne architectural detailing. It is a rectangular one-story building with a structural footprint measuring 72 feet by 40 feet. There is a two-story steeple
on the southwest corner of the building above the main entrance. At the top of the steeple is a belfry
that houses the church-s original 40 inches (1,016 mm) bell, which was cast by the American Bell and Foundry Company of Northville, Michigan
. At the peak of the steeple is a tall, ornate finial
with decorative globes, fans, and scrollwork.
All of the church windows are Gothic arch style. The main sanctuary window is made up of four Gothic arch windows that support a rose window
with ornate tracery. The entire window group is set into a large Gothic arch frame. On the east side of the church is a large bay window. In the original church design, this bay window feature was the focal point of the interior sanctuary space.
with a wooden wainscoting to a height of three-and-a-half feet. The sanctuary pews were originally arranged in a semicircle facing a large bay window on the east side of the building. In 1944, the sanctuary was reoriented along the length of the building with the pews facing an expanded altar and choir area at the north end of the room. Today, the sanctuary space is open and can be arranged as required for specific events.
There are two rooms in the northwest corner of the building. Both are approximately 12 feet by 12 feet. The rooms have 13-foot ceilings and the same lath and plaster walls and wainscoting as the sanctuary. The rooms have hanging glass-globe lights that are original to the building. A hallway runs from the sanctuary along the northeast corner of the building to the back door. It also provides access to a restroom and an office area that was once the church organ's mechanical room.
Redmond, Oregon
Redmond is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. Incorporated on July 6, 1910, the city is located on the eastern side of Oregon's Cascade Range, in the High Desert, and is considered the geographical heart of Central Oregon...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States. It is also the second-oldest religious building in Deschutes County
Deschutes County, Oregon
-National protected areas:* Deschutes National Forest * Newberry National Volcanic Monument-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 115,367 people, 45,595 households, and 31,962 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile . There were 54,583...
. The church was built in the Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style with Queen Anne
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
architectural detailing. It was the home of Protestant congregations from 1912 until 1979. Today, the building is privately owned and used as a special events venue. The First Presbyterian Church of Redmond was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2001.
History
The first Presbyterian congregation in Redmond was organized in 1906, one year after the city was founded. The church was established by Reverend Jesse C. George under the authority and guidance of an existing Presbytery in Pendleton, OregonPendleton, Oregon
Pendleton is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Pendleton was named in 1868 by the county commissioners for George H. Pendleton, Democratic candidate for Vice-President in the 1864 presidential campaign. The population was 16,612 at the 2010 census...
. The Pendleton Presbytery had sent Reverend George to Central Oregon
Central Oregon
Central Oregon is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Oregon and is traditionally considered to be made up of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Other definitions include larger areas, often encompassing areas to the north towards the Columbia River, eastward towards Burns, or south...
in 1905 to minister to the Tumalo
Tumalo, Oregon
Tumalo is an unincorporated community in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States on U.S. Route 20 between Sisters and Bend. It is eight miles south of Eagle Crest Resort. In the Klamath language, tumolo means "wild plum," a plentiful shrub in south central Oregon. Tumola means "ground fog," which...
community fifteen miles southwest of Redmond. Shortly after arriving, a number of Redmond residents asked him to conduct Presbyterian services in their community as well. Over the next few years, George established the Redmond congregation with the help of Reverend J. W. Mitchell of the Sisters
Sisters, Oregon
Sisters is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 959 at the 2000 census, but more than doubled to 2038 as of the 2010 census.- History :...
Presbyterian Church and Reverend Levi Johnson, an itinerant pastor who eventually founded eleven churches in Eastern Oregon
Eastern Oregon
Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity, thus the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost counties in the state; in other contexts, it includes...
communities.
The new Presbyterian congregation held services in a number of locations around the city. In 1910, the congregation bought three adjacent lots along 7th Street in downtown Redmond for a permanent church building. A ground-breaking ceremony was held on July 31, 1911. The building was completed the following spring and dedicated on June 30, 1912. Shortly after the church's dedication, Redmond's local newspaper reported that the church had cost $5,000 to build and had seating capacity for 250 parishioners.
The church continued to grow along with the city of Redmond. In 1929, the First Methodist Church of Redmond had lost its minister and was struggling financially so by mutual consent, the First Methodist congregation was merged into the First Presbyterian Church. The combined congregation sold the First Methodist Church property, retaining the First Presbyterian Church and its minister. With permission from the Pendleton Presbytery, the church was officially renamed the Redmond Community Presbyterian Church on October 1, 1929.
A major renovation of the church was begun in 1943 and completed in the spring of 1944. The changes included reorienting the sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
. The original design had the congregation seated in a semicircle facing east. In the new design, the pews were set in parallel rows along the length of the building facing north. A classroom area was open up and incorporated into the sanctuary to provide space for the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
, pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
, and choir seating at the north end of the room. The church's new sanctuary was dedicated on June 18, 1944. A large non-historic education and fellowship hall was built next to the original church in 1948.
The church and adjacent fellowship hall were used by the Presbyterian congregation until 1979, when the church was relocated to a new facility on N.W. 19th Street. The buildings were then sold to a private investor, but the historic church structure remained vacant until 1992. The original 1912 building was resold at that time, and the new owners opened the Redmond School of Dance in the historic building. The dance school closed in 2003 and the building was once again sold to investors. In 2004, the building was purchased for use as a special events venue. Today, the building houses a private business known as The Historic Redmond Church. It rents space for weddings, concerts, lectures, art exhibits, workshops, and community meetings.
The First Presbyterian Church of Redmond is the oldest church building in the city and the second-oldest religious structure in Deschutes County. Because of the building's Gothic Revival architecture and its importance to the history of Central Oregon, the First Presbyterian Church of Redmond was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 3, 2001.
Structure
The First Presbyterian Church is located on a 100-by-100-foot city lot on the corner of 7th Street and Cascade Avenue within the original Redmond townsite. The building is sited on the western side of the lot with the entrance facing Cascade Avenue. The entry steps begin at the public sidewalk along Cascade Avenue. On the 7th Street frontage, there is a four foot landscaped lawn between the structure and the sidewalk. The east side of the lot is used for parking.The church was built in the Gothic Revival style with Queen Anne architectural detailing. It is a rectangular one-story building with a structural footprint measuring 72 feet by 40 feet. There is a two-story steeple
Steeple (architecture)
A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...
on the southwest corner of the building above the main entrance. At the top of the steeple is a belfry
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
that houses the church-s original 40 inches (1,016 mm) bell, which was cast by the American Bell and Foundry Company of Northville, Michigan
Northville, Michigan
Northville is a city located in and divided by Oakland and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of Michigan and a suburb in Metro Detroit. The population was 5,970 at the 2010 census. The Oakland County portion is surrounded by the city of Novi. The Wayne County portion is surrounded by Northville...
. At the peak of the steeple is a tall, ornate finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
with decorative globes, fans, and scrollwork.
All of the church windows are Gothic arch style. The main sanctuary window is made up of four Gothic arch windows that support a rose window
Rose window
A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...
with ornate tracery. The entire window group is set into a large Gothic arch frame. On the east side of the church is a large bay window. In the original church design, this bay window feature was the focal point of the interior sanctuary space.
Interior
The ceiling in the church sanctuary is 19 feet high. The sanctuary walls are lath and plasterLath and plaster
Lath and plaster is a building process used mainly for interior walls in Canada and the United States until the late 1950s. After the 1950s, drywall began to replace the lath and plaster process in the United States. In the United Kingdom, lath and plaster was used for some interior partition...
with a wooden wainscoting to a height of three-and-a-half feet. The sanctuary pews were originally arranged in a semicircle facing a large bay window on the east side of the building. In 1944, the sanctuary was reoriented along the length of the building with the pews facing an expanded altar and choir area at the north end of the room. Today, the sanctuary space is open and can be arranged as required for specific events.
There are two rooms in the northwest corner of the building. Both are approximately 12 feet by 12 feet. The rooms have 13-foot ceilings and the same lath and plaster walls and wainscoting as the sanctuary. The rooms have hanging glass-globe lights that are original to the building. A hallway runs from the sanctuary along the northeast corner of the building to the back door. It also provides access to a restroom and an office area that was once the church organ's mechanical room.