35 Edward Street at Main, Buffalo, New York
Click on photos for larger size and more
information
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Drawings
of the 1832 and 1843 churches
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The
1843 church
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The
interior of the 1843 church
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After
the 1885 fire
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1889
(present day) Church - Gothic
Revival style
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Medina
sandstone
West front facade on Main Street
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Main
entrance - west front facade on Main Street
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Detail
of previous photo - St. Louis in tympanum
over center front entrance doors
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Double
doors in right front pavilion
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Detail
of previous photo - foliated capitals
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West
front facade on Main Street
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Detail
of previous photo - note the quatrefoils
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Note finials
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Detail
of previous photo
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The
chief tower rises to a height of 245 feet.
The two side towers are each 128 feet high.
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Additional
photos
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Bell
tower
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One
of Buffalo's best known landmarks: the 72-foot-tall, pierced
spire, perhaps the only remaining pierced spire in the U.S.
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Cologne,
Germany, Cathedral
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Erected
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1886-1889,
but not finished until 1910 when the altar was added. |
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Architects
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Schikel
and Ditmar, a New York City firm that designed many
churches throughout the eastern part of the U.S. |
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Style
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Gothic
Revival, specifically fourteenth-century French
Gothic, with German Gothic overtones |
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Materials
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Medina
sandstone |
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Features
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Most distinctive feature: An
octagonal 245-foot Medina sandstone steeple, including a 72-foot-tall,
pierced spire ó the tallest open-work spire ever built
completely of stone without reinforcement. It is reputed
to be the only remaining pierced spire in the U.S. Its
counterpart is in J.W. Schikel's native Germany in the Cologne
Cathedral.
The ground plan is cruciform
with naves, sanctuary
and transepts.
The nave, 200 feet long, is divided by magnificent
columns of polished granite with richly carved stone capitals.
The dimensions of the church
are:
- Exterior length: 234 feet;
exterior width: 134 feet; Height from ground to ridge of
roof: 105 feet; length of transept: 120 feet;
- The nave is 42 feet wide and
75 feet high in the clear. the side aisles are 19 feet
wide and 36 feet high with clear height at the
intersection of the nave and transept, 76 feet.
Seating: 2,000, St.
Louis is one of the largest ecclesiastical buildings in
Buffalo.
The Seth Thomas clock in the tower was a gift from
Eldridge G. Spaulding, who lived diagonally across the street.
Spaulding was the U.S. Congressman who originated paper
currency to finance the Civil War and became known as
"the father of the greenback."
Except for rest rooms, the church has undergone no
renovations.
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St.
Louis,
patron saint
of the church
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King
Louis IX of France is the church's patron saint. Born in
1214, he was made king at the early age of 11. Leader of the
seventh crusade, he is also credited with having established
the "true crowns of thorns" in the Sainte Chappele
in Paris, which he had built to house the sacred relic. A
secular Franciscan brother, he died from the plague near
Carthage on a crusade in 1270. He was later canonized. |
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Original
donor
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Monsieur
Louis Stephen LeCouteulx de Chaumont (photo),
a French gentleman, arrived in Buffalo in 1804 to get repaid
for loans he had made to finance the American Revolutionary
War. Even though he was unsuccessful in that regard, he chose
to remain in the village ó the first permanent Roman Catholic
ó and became one of its most prominent citizens.
He built a frame house on Crow (now Exchange) Street opposite
Crow's Tavern. The block was afterwards known as "LeCouteulx
Block." (photo)
In a part of one building he established the first drugstore
in the country.
Soon afterwards the Holland Land Company appointed him local
agent for the sale of Buffalo lands. To entice Catholics to
move to the village, he donated a plot land in 1829 at Main
and Edward Streets for the first Catholic church and school in
Buffalo. (The gift included land on what is now Delaware
Avenue, rents from which bring the parish income to this day.)
He became the donor of the land as well as the founder of St.
Louis (his namesake) Church, the first Catholic church in the
city.
LeCouteulx is also remembered also for being involved in
removing the sand bar to make Buffalo a harbor in its bid for
the Erie
Canal |
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The
1832 Church
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The
Lamb of God Church was popularly referred to as the
"wigwam church" (because it looked like a wigwam.)
It was erected in 1832, the same year Buffalo was incorporated
as a city. It was a log structure hand-hewn from lumber, much
of it from the forest that stood on what is now Delavan
Avenue, and originally served French and German immigrants.
But Catholics came in such numbers from surrounding areas that
St. Louis became too small for its worshippers. Consequently,
the Irish constituents branched off and built St. Patrick's
(now gone) downtown, at Ellicott and Broadway. |
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The
1843 Church
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In 1843
the French and German Catholics erected a new St. Louis Church
- a handsome brick building which was literally built around
the old church which was then demolished and carted away.
The French parishioners separated from St. Louis in the 1850's
leaving the congregation distinctly German. The Germans,
surprisingly, retained the name of the French saint. The
French then proceeded to build St. Peter's on the present site
of the Hotel
Lafayette on Lafayette Square and our Lady of Lourdes (now
abandoned) on Main Street at Best.
The 1843 building was used from 1843 to 1885 until it was
destroyed by fire which originated in the Music Hall (photo)
which was located across the street, and spread rapidly to
engulf the church. Thereafter, the parishioners worshipped in
a temporary third church for four years.. |
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1889
Church
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The
present church opened its doors for the first religious
service on August 25, 1889, the Feast of St. Louis. |
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