Written by Jack McCarthy   
Wednesday, 12 October 2011 04:25

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Photo from Wikipedia.

 

The United Methodist Church of Batavia was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

According to a Wikipedia account, funds for the church were donated by Rev. E. H. Gammon and Cpt. Don Carlos Newton in 1887 to replace the First Methodist Church of Batavia. It was designed by famed local architect Solon Spencer Beman in the Romanesque Revival style.
The First Methodist Church of Batavia served the Methodist congregation in Batavia, Illinois from 1852 to 1887. The first minister of that church, Rev. E. H. Gammon, later entered the agricultural machinery business and became wealthy. He and industrialist Cpt. Don Carlos Newton donated a large sum to erect a new Methodist church in Batavia. Newton had visited southern France and was intrigued by the local French Romanesque Revival style. He recommended this style to prominent local architect Solon Spencer Beman, commissioned to design the building.
The exterior of the building was primarily constructed with local boulders, mostly from I. S. Stephens' Mill Creek Farm--Stephens also worked as the building's contractor. Limestone details were carefully crafted to provide contrast to the more erratic pattern of the boulders. The church is 106 by 60 feet  with a square nave featuring a barrel vault ceiling. The nave has thirteen rows of red oak pews in three segments. The tower rises 52 feet  from the ground with a pyramidal roof.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 October 2011 04:26
 
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