mht.maryland.govbow which reflects the original semi-.circular chancel on the interior. the...

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Form l0-300 (Dec. 1968)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NA T IONAL PARK SERVICE

S T ATE :

Ma l and

C:OMMON :

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACE S INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM

(Type all entries - complete applicable sections)

ANO/ OR H IS TO RIC:

COUNTY:

altimore Cit · FOR NPS USE ONLY

EN T RY NUMBER D ATE

2 ~ LOCATION

:3.

4.

-!- 1 ~ EE T AN C' NUMBER:

CITY O R TOWN: 1

j STAT E

CLASSfFICA't.:ION. CATEGORY

(Check One)

Dtstdet 0 Bui I ding Kl I s· 0 Structure 0 i 1te

I Object 0 I

Pub.lie

Private

Bath

COOE COUNTY:

OWNERSHIP

0 Public Acquisition:

X:X In Process

0 Being Considered 0 c

STATUS

Occupied

Unoccupied

COOE

ACCESSIBLE

TO T HE PUBLIC

XXJ Yes:

O Restricted ~

PreH rvalian work Unrestricted 0 in progreu 0 No: 0

PRESENT us E (Check One or More '"' ApproprlBte)

Agricultura l 0 Government 0 Park 0 0 IKX 0

Transportation O Comments

Commerciof 0 Industrial 0 Private Residence Other ( Sp" C'i tr) 0 Ed ucational 0 Military 0 Religious

I 0 0 Scientific I Entertainment Museum

·ow.NE:R o!= PROPf:RTY \• .. O WNERS NAME:

i I Trustees

STATE : CODE

Land Records ,Office of the Su erior Court o:f Baltimore Cit / S T REE T AN O NUMBE R:

I Room 610 ' Baltimore Cit Court House (I TV O il TOWN: STA T E C OC E

I ar l and APPROXIMATE ACREAG E C>F NC>MINATEO PROPERTY : less than one acre

C'

*' :rfEf?.~e·s:1n~1'.A'.fJC)N tN .EXlhlNG SURveYs TI TL E O F SURVEY:

OATE OF SURVEY : County 0 Locol 0 OEPOSITORV FOR SURVEY RECORDS :

STREET ANO NUMBER :

· C ITY OR TOWN : STAT E: CODE

Washin ton District of Columbia

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CONOITION I (Check One)

E1<cellenl ; J _ _ G_"._o~-----~~ [.J Deter'.oroted 0 Ruins 0 Une1<posed 0 1----- ---r-, -·-- (Cl•e<·k Ottt>) I (Check One)

INTEGRI T Y [ Altered lib{ -· ~'.'..,~'~~~~ - T! .. ____ --~-~~ed I ·: Or;ginol Site~ DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AN O ORIGINAi... (If la>own) PHYSICAi... APP EARANCE

The First Unitarian Ch\,trch designed by Maximilien Godefroy in 1817 represents a strong ·reaction to the traditional rectangular meeting house-with-steeple approach that had dominated Protestant religious architecture for over half a century. Godefroy designed a supremely 'rational building which is essentially a hemisphere ".to·t on a cube.

From Franklin Street the church is 78- feet wide. The main feature of this entrance front is a recessed entrance loggia entered by a colonnade 56' 9" wide composed of three matching arches supported by four Tuscan columns framed by flanking antae. The entablature below the tympanum of the pediment continues around all four sides of the building and marks the springing of the dome. The height of

! the engaged pediment on the entrance facade corresponds to the height of the parapet that surrounds the building above the entablature and masks much of the view of the dome from the street. The sculpture in the tympanum is made of ~npainted terra cotta and represents the Angel of Truth against a bacl:ground of clouds and rays of light . It was executed originally by ' Antonio Capellano. However in 1960 it had to be replaced by a copy because the original had deteriorated.

The interior of the entrance loggia has three entrance doors on axis with the triple arches. At either end of the loggia and at right angles to the entrance doors are matching doorways to the stairs that led originally to the balcony. The ceiling of the loggia is a well ex~cuted series of groin vaults supported by the columns and by the engaged pilasters centered between the entrance door.

The Charles Street elevation has three arched window bays which light the church auditorium and one bay which lights the stairwell to t he balcony. The rear elevation of the church has a slig~t bow which reflects the original semi-.circular chancel on the interior.

The ori-ginal interior ~ad a auditorium 53' 6" square with four deeply soffited arches carried on balcony-height engaged pilasters. These arches carried the immense semi-circular coffered dome also 53' 6" in diameter and 26' 9" high . This dome, still in place, has trompe-l'oeil painting to represent coffering rosettes and laurel leaf plaster work aroun~ the ocu1,us . Beyond the support ing arches on the entrance front was the choir loft and balcony above the entrance vestibule. The arches op either side of the auditoriµzn contained the window bays and the arch opposite the entrance served as the proscenium for the chancel.

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Fo"" 10-3000 (July 1969)

( UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

INVENTORY - NOMIMATIOM FORM

B-5 STATE

FOR NPS USE ONLY

E NTRY NUMBER CATE (Continuation Sheet)

(N1m1ber ell entrlH)

7. Descri ption (1) First Unitarian Church

First Independent Chu~ch

The 1893 remodeling qf t he church interior literally lined the Godefroy interior with a new one. The present interior is executed in a very correct Roman Cotintbian mode in white plaster and is the work of Baltimore archi tect Joseph Evans Sperry. Under the original dome is hung a cof·fered barrel vault the fu ll width of the nave. The deep side a rches of the former interior have been masked by arched partitions creating side a isles . The original balcony over t he . loggia has been sealed off and a new organ l oft built in front of it. The curved chancel has been masked by a f lat rear chancel wall wi t h an elliptical stained glass transom by the Tiffany Glass Decorating Compnay, installed in 1904. _Below it is a mosaic of the Last Supper by the same firm, installed in 1897 . The marble altar and two chairs and a sofa which form part of the present c hancel furnishings were designed by Godefroy and used in the original interior arrangement.

In an art i cle published in the September 1961 issue of the Maryland Historical Magazine, Robert L. Alexander researched t he design sources Godefroy used in designing t his church .

"The entrance with three,a rches on four columns almost exact l y dupl icated that on the Abbey c. 1780 at Royaumont not far from Paris . The triple arch entry motif, moreover, appeared wi t h some frequency in France from about 1770 to 1815 . Godefroy used t wo recent publications for certain details providing specific conn~ctions wi th advanced European taste. In 1798 t wo French archi tects, Ch. Percier and P. F . L. Font a ine published their drawings of I t alian Renaissance buildings and from this source Godefroy devised the s hape of the pulpit and the form and details of the five ( entrance) doors. The moldings of the interior cornice he said were derived from the Palazzo Mattei and indeed t he whole. interior space seems to be a magnification of the souare vaulted bay from this palace . From another and much more popular source, The Principals of Archi~ecture, by Peter Nicholson, he selected the pat tern for the exterior co.lumns and cornices following the plates almost line for l i ne . "

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AR E AS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Cht!ck One or More aa Appropriate)

Abor igi.,o l Education 0 Prehistori c [J Engineering 0 H i storic [I Industry 0

: Agr icu l!vre 0 Invent ion . 0 Art 0 i .. Commerce 0 Arcltitecture n Communications 0 Literature LJ Conservation 0 Military 0

Music ~ 0

18th Century 0 19th Century XX

PoliHcol 0 Rel igl on/ Phi •

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The first Unitarian Church, in Baltimore, Maryland, was designed by Maximilien Godefroy in 1817 and completed in 1818. This Neo-Classical church reflects the early-19th century interest in basic shapes and volumes. I t is essentially a hemisphere set on a cube . Godefroy was strongly influenced by the drawings of Italian Renaissance buildings published by the French architects Percier and Fontaine in 1798. On the eKterior, the triple arched entrance loggia, stucco finish (originally scored to resemble ashlar), and the terracotta sculpture in the pediment give the church a strongly Tuscan flavor unusual in American architecture at that time . The dramatic dom~d interior space, which measures 80' from the floor of the auditorium to the top of the dome, proved to have serious acoustical defects. So serious were these defects in 1893 the entire origin'al interior of the church was masked by a new interior with a wide barrel vault and side aisles constructed underneath the dome.

Though in many ways this church is the most ambitious of Maximilien Godefroy's American buildings and certainly the most spatially dramatic, it proved nevertheless, to be a functional failure. The need to const ruct an entire new interior shell in 1893 has created an architectural non-sequitur. Even though the original interior remains hidden behind the later alterations, these alterations, and the reasons that prompted them, cannot be overlooked . They .make the First Unitarian Church more of an architectural curiousity and less of a masterpiece.

HISTORY

On February 10, · 1817, several prominent Baltimore citizens rnet at 21 Hanover Street to organize a religious society "modeled upon the simple prindples of the gospels." This became the nucleus of the First ~ndependent Church of Baltimore. It was decided to build a church on the corner of Charles Street and Franklin Street, one .block away from the still un~inished Roman Catholic Cathedral by Benjamin Henry Latrobe.

Form 10-3000 (July 1969)

(Number •ti entrlH)

U ITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE


INVENTORY • NOMINATION FORM

(Continuation Sheet)

STATE

COVNTY

FOP HPS USE ONLY

E N TRY NUMBER

First Unitarian Church First Independent Church

8. Significance (1)

The architect chosen for t he job was Maximilien Godefroy ( c . 1765-1845), t he French emigre ' architec t who had already completed Saint Mary ' s Seminary Chapel and designed the Battle Monument.

The corner stone for the church was laid in June 1817, and the dedication took place in October, 1818. It was immediately apparent that the boldly simple design of a sphere in a cube was an acoustical fai l ure. Finally in 1893 the present barrel vault was rebuilt within the original domed space which still remains in place behind the changes.

• I

.. ----· ------ - ·-------~----

DATE

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{?\:·'. :·M~\~OR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL -rERENCES

I Rebecca Funk, A Heritage to Hold In Fee, 1817-1917, First Unitarian

Church of BaJl.timore (Baltimore, 1962); f

'<

Richard Howland and Eleanor Spencer, The Architecture of Baltimore, -- -(Baltimore, 1953);

Robert L. Alexander, ':'Architecture and Aristocracy, the Cosmopolitan Style of Latrobe and Godefroy " Maryland Historical Magazine ' (September 1961).

-Thcl~'.'t:· qf'cfo°R'APHICAL. DATA

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L.ATITUDE AND L.ONGITUOE COORDINATES 0 ..L.ATITUDE AND L.ONGITUDE COORDI NATES

DEFIN ING A RECTANGL.E L.OCATING THE PROPERTY DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY

R OF L.ESS THA_N 9NJ" ACRE

CORNER L.ATITUDE L.ONGITUOE L.ATITUDE L.ONGITUDE

Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds

NW 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 39 17 43 76 36 58

NE 0 . . 0 . . SE 0 . . 0 . . SW 0 . . 0 . .

L.IST AL.L. STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERL.APPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

!!TATE: COOE COUNTY CODE

STATE: COOE COUNTY : CODE

STATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE


~l\tl~'~ORM PREPARED BY'.''. .. ·.: .. •t·.:,; .. ::"'•i<·::·?<:?;)i::.::,_ .. ·. , .. '· '·~'2:'~t? ;-- -<-::"' .. •'':: ···.?\•:?D> .,:~~ .... _7Xl'.:5/:}~;;·p;r· h\. '··· , '.''•':'i:"; '"~ NAME AND TITL.E:

w. Brown Morton III ORGANIZATION Division of History, Office of Archeology a~d !DATE

Historic Preservation. National Park Service 8/10/71 STREET ANO NUMBER:

ROl - 1 ~th ~Tl"PPt N w CITY OR TOWN : STATE CODE

W<:>e>h;na+l"'ln n r .: .. 11.: sTA"i'E u.A1.soN oFF1ceR _CER11r=·icAiToN: t ,,_ :~ ':. ···-:·'.--.· '· ~ . .,

NATION.Al REGISTER VERIFiCATION .·· . • . . .. . , 'c ~ •

As the designated State Lia.ison Officer for the Na -

tional H istoric Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law I hereby certify that this property is included in the

89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion National Register.

in the National Register and certify that it has been

evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set

forth 'by the Nat ional Park Service. The recommended Chief , Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation

level of significance of this nomination is:

National 0 State 0 Local 0 . Date

Name ATTEST:

' Title

Keeper of The Nationa.l Register

Date Date

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Form 10-301 (July 1969)

UNITf' HATES D RTMENT OF THE INTERIOR .• ·. \_ N ATIONAL. PARK SERVICE


PROPERTY MAP FORM

(Type all entries - attach to or enclose with map)

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STREET A N O NUMB E R :

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U N ITE D STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR N AT I ONAL PARK SER VICE

HATIOHAL REGISTER OF HI STORIC PLACES

PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM

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Form 10-300 {July 1969)

COMMON :

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM


First Unitarian Church ANOIO R HISTO RIC :

First Independent Christian Church

STREET AN O N UM BER:

2-12 West Franklin Street CITY OR TOWN:

Baltimore S T A TE

STATE:

Maryland COUNTY:

Baltimore City FOR NPS USE ON L Y

ENTRY NUM BE R I D A TE

I

CODE I COUNTY:

24 I Baltimore City I COD E

I s10 Maryland

CATEGORY

( Chec k Ono)

0 District [3a Bui id ing

0 Site

OWNERSHIP

Pub lic Acquis ition:

D In Process

STATUS

0 Occupied

D Unoccupied 0 Structure

0 Object

0 Publ ic

(XI Private

D Both D Being Considered 0 Preservation work

PRESENT USE (Check One or More BS Appropriate)

0 Agricul t ural

0 Commercial

D Educational

0 Entertainment

0 Government

D Industria l

0 Mil i tary

0 Museum

: :::·;

0 Pork

D Prlvote Residence

.KJ Rel igious

D Scient ific

in progress

D Transportation

0 Other (Specify)

OWNER'S NAME: Board of Trustees, First Unitarian Church of

Baltimore (Universalist & Unitarian) STREET ANO NUMBER:

2-12 West Franklin Street C IT Y OR T O WN:

Baltimore t""·1~=,~~,,.,.,, ~....,,.Q=.~wn~t~fqpJ,e.:~~1J.:o.i:;$.¢~1~r.rol'l ,, , ·. ·· .. :: .... ''

S TATE:

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ACCESSIBL E

TO THE PUBLIC

Yes:

D Restricted

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0 No

0 Comments

CODE

24

COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, E TC: ()

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1------------~------------------~----------~-----..... ---------------------------r-----~ 9 C I TY OR TO WN : ST ATE C ODE Q

Baltimore Maryland

TITL.E O F SURVEY:

Historic American Buildings Survey (see continuation DATE OF SURVEY: January 1964 6CJ Federa l [] State 0 County 0 DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS:

Library of Congress STREET ANO NUMBER:

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0 Ruins 0 Unexposed

(Check One) I 0 Moved fil Original Si te

D ESCRIBE THE PRESENT ANO ORIGINAL (ii mown) PHYSICAL A PPEARANCE

The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore is located on the northwest corner of Charles and Franklin Streets ; its main entrance is on the southern, or Franklin Street , side.

The church is essentially a domed cube 100 feet long (north-south) and -78 feet wide (east- west) . The dome is 55 feet in diameter . The walls are of brick and stone masonry covered with stucco .

Ornamenting the church ' s facade is a shallow , pedimented portico carried by an arcade formed of three arches on Tuscan columns. The pediment is decorated with a terracotta figure representing The Angel of Truth appearing from clouds and a sunburst . Th~ figure holds a scroll containing a Greek inscription which in translation says: "To the only God ." The original sculpture was the work of Antonia Capellano . The sculpture now in the pediment (June, 1971) is a copy of the Capellano piece made in 1959-60 by Baltimore sculptor Henry Berge. The head of the original is preserved in the church ' s Heritage Room.

The porch formed beneath the portico is vaulted , and it contains five doors of bronzed wood . Tuscan pilasters stand between the doors. The entablature of the portico continues, unbroken , entirely around the building. Thus , on the side and rear walls , the entablature assumes the nature of a cornice and gives the building the illusion of being of two stories : a main, or ground, story and an attic . A secondary cornice and large rectangular recesses form the only decorations on the attic planes .

Below the attic, each side (i . e ., east and west) wall of the "main story" contains three tall stained glass windows in arched niches. The windows on the west side are blind . Each side also contains, located between the group of three windows and the southern corner, a recessed arched niche of the same proportions as the windows .

In plan, the auditorium of the church is a square with 53-foot sides . Originally the underside of the dome that crowns the church was visible f rom the pews beneath . Because of accoustical deficiencies , however, a corrective barrel vault was installed in 1893 by the well- known Baltimore architect J. E . Sperry . The vault , coffered and decorated with elaborate rosettes , now totally obscures the original dome.

The interior space is divided (north-south) into a nave and two side aisles by arcades that echo the arched windows of the e xterior . The nave , or central aisle leads north to a raised , 15- foot- deep chancel which has an arched , coffered

SEE CONTINUATION SHEET

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Q Pre-Columbian I 0 16th Century 0 18th Century

O 15t h Ce ntury 0 17th Cent ury KJ 19th Century

SPECIFIC OAT Elsi (11 Appl icltble end Known) 1817-1818 AR E AS OF S ll;NIFICANC E (Check One or lifore ee Appropriate)

A~iginal

0 Prehist<wic

0 Historic

0 Agricultvnt

rn A1chltoc tu1e

rn Art

0 Comm«ce

0 Communications

0 C onse rvation

ST AT E M E N T O F SiGNI F I CANCE

0 Education

0 Engineering

O Industry

O Invention

LJ Londacope

Architecture

0 Literature

0 Military

0 Music

0 Political

Qa Relig ion/Phi-

losophy

Q Science

I" I Sculpture

0 Social/Human-

itorion

Q Theoter

0 Transportat ion

MHT B-5

0 20th Cent ury

0 Urban Planning

0 Other ( Specify)

Although it was not the first American church to adopt a litany which.was Unitarian in nature--Boston ' s King ' s Chapel claims that distinction- -Baltimore ' s First Unitarian Church played a highly significant role in the development of Unitarianism in the United States , for it was there that American Unitarianism was given its first formal definition .

That definition came in a sermon delivered on May 5 , 1819 by the Reverend Dr . William Ellery Channing , of Boston, on the occasion of the ordination of the Baltimore congregation's first minister , Jared Sparks . In his landmark sermon--known to historians as "The Baltimore Sermon" --Dr. Channing proclaimed the pri nciples which gave early Unitarian t hought in this country cohesiveness and a basis from which to grow and evolve . Among the essential principles he espoused were these: the Bi ble is a book written for men , and it can be understood by the exercise of reason; Jesus Christ is distinct from the one Godi God is infinitely good , kind and benevolent; and , all virtue has its foundations in man's own morality, conscience and sense of duty.

The Baltimore church was in its infancy when Dr . Channing delivered his sermon. It had been founded only in 1817 by a group of prominent Baltimoreans (many of them of New England extraction) who had been inspired to their action by three sermons preached in October, 1816, by James Freeman, the Boston minister who had converted that city ' s Episcopal King ' s Chapel to Unitarianism in 1784.

Mr . Freeman delivered his three Baltimore addresses in a dance hall. His Baltimore followers were determined that a far more suitable and impressive edifice would house the church which they established as a result of those addresses . To accomplish their purposes they commissioned the French emigre Maximilian Godefroy (c . 1765-c . 1845) . Godefroy had designed Baltimore ' s St . Mary ' s Seminary Chapel (1806) , one of the first Gothic Revival churches in the country, and the highly ec lect~c Battle Monument< which honors the memory of the men who defended Baltimore at the Battle of North Point


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Form 10-3000 (July 1969}

UNIT(

. ' ATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE


( MHT B- 5 -·-·--

rATE

Maryland '

COUNTY

'. ' INVENTORY • NOMINATION FORM Baltimore City

·:. FOR NPS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMBER I OATE (Contimmtion Sheet) -·------------,,_ _ _ __,

----------- -----·--·-·-----------~---- - · -·-· -·-••<> - · - --·-··---- -(Number a l/ entrleB)

First Unitarian Church

#'6 • REPRESE~TATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS continued

Ma:ryland Register of historic. sites and landmarks

,State 1969

·M~iyland Historical Trust · 94 College .Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 Code: 24

Commission for Historic and Architectural Preservation

Local

. Commission for Historic· & Architectural Preservation 402 C1ty Hall Baltimore , Maryland 21201 Code: 24

#7 . DESCRIPTION continued

ceiling. Over the altar is a mosaic of the Last Supper , designed in 1879 by Frederi~~ Wilson , of New York City , and manufactured by the Tiffany Glass · .Decorating Company . Above it is an arched sta~ned-glass window, ~lso made by Tiffany.

An organ loft is against the opposite (south) wall . It is supported. ·by columns similar to those that carry the entrance portico.

The present altar i ·s the original pulpit--designed, as were most o'f the other original furnishings , by Maximilia·n <;;odefroy, architect of the building. It is of Verd Antiqµe and Carrara marble. Its cast lead and bronze ornaments were executed by Capellano.

An iron fence .of Baltimore manufacture delineates '.a sha l low entrance cotirt betwe~n t~e portico and the sidewalk al6ng Ftanklin Street . The cupola that originally rose from the center o~ the dome was destroyed during a ~torm in 1941 . btherwise , the exterior of the church retains its or{ginal appearance .

(1 of 5 continuation sheets)

Researchers:

William Morgan , Maryland Historical Trust, Annapolis , Maryland.

Romaine Somerville, Catherine Black , and Architectural Preservation, Maryland .

Commission for Historic 402 City Hall, Baltimore ,


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DEFINING A RECTANG LE LOCATING THE PROPERTY 0 D EFINING THE CENTE R POINT OF A PROPERTY

!-----.-----~----.-----------~ R 1--------o_F_L_E_s_s_T_H_A~. N_T_E~N-A~c_R_E~s------~ CORNER LATITUDE LONGI TU D E

Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds

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ST ATE : CODE COUNTY CODE


STATE: CODE COUNTY : CODE

STATE: CODE COUNTY: COOE

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Mrs. Preston Parish , Keeper of the Mar_y~l.-.a_n_d ___ R __ e:....!gL1.-.· .::..s....;.t...=e...:;r ______ -1

1;~~e ORGANIZATION

Maryl and Historical Trust STREE T ANO NUMBER :

94 College Avenue CITY OR T OWN :

Annapolis

As the designated State Liaiso n Officer for the Na

tional Historic Prese rvat ion Act of 1966 (Public Law

89-665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion

in the National Register and certify that it has been

evaluated according to the criteria and procedures sel

forth by the National Park Service. The recommended

level of significance of this nomination is:

National IX! State O Local 0

N•~ MOJv\i0l> 1icP~1J Orlando Ridout IV

Title __ S..:....:;t_a.:...t"'--'-e-"'L"'"1""' _a~i""'s;;_o.;;...;;_n.;._O_f_f_i"""c__..e_r __ for Maryl and

JUN 2 1 1971 Date ~~~~----~--~--~~--~--

21, 1 971

STATE CODE

Mary l and 24

I hereby certify that this property is included in the

Nat iona I Reg is ter.

Chief, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation

Date ~---~~~~~~--~~~~-~--

ATTEST:

Keeper of The National R egiste r

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( · Maryland .

(Numbot all enttfet1)

;'





#~ . SIGNIFiCANCE continued

COUN T Y

Baltimore .~_1_· +-_-Y _ ___ ---1

FOR N? S USE ONLY 1----'----

ENTRY ' NUMSER I D A TE

I

~n 1814 . . During his earliest years in Baltimore , he was employed as i.nstr~ctor of civil and military arc hi t~cture anq fine .arts

- q~: $t . Mary ' s~ According to Richard H~bbard How~and and El·eanor Patterson Spencer , his · position at that institution marks bim ~s the first professiona l teacher of architecture in Balti :ril9re , . perhaps in the. United States .

' As did the work of his contemporary and friend , B. H. Lat robe, Godefroy ' s Unitarian Church represented a departure from the late Georgian and early Neo - Classica1 styles of architecture f a miliar to Baltimoreans . of the first decades of the 19th , . century . Instead of dealing with surfaces and applied or.nament , Godefroy concerned himself with mass and the interplay of geometric . forms- - the cube and the hemisphe~e in the case of the Firs~ Unitarian Church , which is considered his most important

.Puilding . . His spatial concepts have been likened by Robert L . Alexander to those of the French visionary ar~hitect Claude-

. Nicolas . Ledoux , a.nd his style-- especially as exemplified by the First Unit~rian Church-- has been cited by Howland and Spenc er as cpntributing·, with the works of Latrobe , Robert Mills and Ro bert Capy Long , Sr ., to a " . .. Baltimore architect ure duri·ng the .first third of the nineteenth century [which] has a definite and individual look that emphasizes the geometric aspects of solids and voids , rather than decoration . ,,1 ·

, The only non-architectural decoration on the exterior is a reproduction of a terra cotta sculpture of The Angel of Truth ·or i ginal l y executed by Antonio Capellano, sculptor to Spanish ·kings Charles IV and Joseph Napol eon . The scul pture dominates the pediment . of the entrance portico .

The interior of the church is ornamented with a large mosaic portraying the Last Supper . Manufactured by The Tiffany Glass Decorating Company , of New York, it contains 64 , 640 pieces of Favrile glass . . It was installed in 1897. The nearl y semi cir cul ar window above the altar and the six stained-glass side windows were also products of the Tiffany studios. Together they represent an artistic style and taste far different from , yet "compatible with , those preva+ent during Godefroy's time .

! Richard H. Howland and Eleanor P. Spencer , The Archi tectur e of ~altimore A Pictorial History , (Baltimore : 1~53) , 43 - 44 .


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NATIONAL REGISTER OF HI STORIC P LAC ES



.MHT B- 5 ll TA Tit .

Maryland COUNTY

Ba'itimore City FOR NPS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUM BER I I


#~ •. 'S IGNIFICA~CE continued

..

DATE

The congregation of First Unitarian ha~ included many ptomi·nent Baltirnoreans. Among them were: Henry Payson (1762 - 1845), .financier, member of the city council and judge of : the Orphans ' Court; John W. Mcculloh, cashier of the Maryland branch of the Barik of the United States and one of the principals in the Supreme Court .case M_cCulloh vs . Maryland; Tobias Watkins , M .. D., Surgeon G~n¢ral of the United States Navy; Charles Joseph Bonaparte , gr.eat- nephew -o.f Napoleon Bonaparte , Secretary of the Navy , and ·Attorney Gener~l of fhe Unit~d States from 1906 to 1908 ; Enoch Pratt (1808-1896)1 philanthropist; and Rembrandt Peale (1778 - 1860) , painter and founder of the Baltimore Gas Lighting Company.

' s ,fnce its earliest years the First Unitarian Church has ·~~~en the concerns of the Baltimore community as its own . Some examples of its early (but since defunct) programs of social service include: sponsorship of The Boys ' Guild , begun in 1888 as an institution to provide training for underprivileged boys; operation of The I ndustrial School for Girls (begun in 1874) and Channing Ho~se (begun in 1905) , a settlement house located in a crowded working area of the city.

: In 1855 the First Unitarian Church announced its intent ions

to remain in the inner city and refurbished its building . I t ha,s since joined with other nearby downtown churches to form an inn~r. city ministeriurn that is still (June, 1971) in existence.

~9 . REFERENCES continued

Researchers continued:

Nancy Miller ,_ Histo.rian, Maryland Historical Trust , Annapolis , Maryland , April 1970.

J.ames F. Waesche , Baltimore, Maryland . (Editor & writer)

Sources:

~lexander, Robert L . "Architecture and Aristocracy : The Cosmopolitan Style of Latrobe and Godefroy." Maryland Historical Magazine . . LVI (September 1961) , 229 - 243 .

Craven, Wayne. Sculpture in America . New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1968.


" . . . .. · .. :;:' . '

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----·"· Fo;m· 10.3ooa UNI·, ~ STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE

( MHT B- 5

(Juit 196~) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Maryland .• f , ' . NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTY .. - Baltimore City

INVENTORY • NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY

" I '. . ENTRY NUMBER \ DATE '

... (Continuation Sheet) I (N11ffb•r all enttlait)


# 9 .... REFERENCES continued ' i " •

Davidson·, Caroli,na v. "Comments on the Text [of Godefroy ' s -resume of his life and wo·rk] . " Maryland Historical Magazine . XXIX (September 1934), 200 - 212.

.Dictionary of America·n Biography . 20 vols . New York : Charles . Scribner's Sons, 1929-1935, II, IV, . VII~ . XV, WVII.

j'tirtk,, Rebecca, . et . al. A Herita9:e to Hold in Fee 1817-1917 .. First Unitarian Church o.f ~altimore (Universalist and

Unitarian). Baltimore : Garramond Press, 1962 .

H,€3,mli.n , Talbot . .. Greek Revival Architecture in America : Being an ; . Aecount of Important Trends in American Archi.tectu.re .and

. Am~rican Life pribr to the War Between the States. (reprint) . ;; ·.

New York: Dover, 1944. ..

Hart, Richard H. Enoch Pratt The Storz of a Plain Man. Ba;I.timore: Enoch Pratt Free Library, 1935.

"His:tory of Baltimore, Maryland, from Its Foundin9: as a Town to ~ the Current Year 1729-1898 [Baltimore]: s. B. . . . .

Ne.Ison, 1898 .

H~·tchcock, Henry-Russell. Architecture, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centur.ies. [Baltimore]: Penguin Books , Inc., 1958 .

Hpwland , Richard Hubbard and Eleanor Patterson Spencer . The ~rchitecture of Baltimore A Pictorial History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press , 1953 .

·Godefroy , Maximilian. [f(esume Of his life and his work] . .. Maryland Historical Magazine . XXIX (September 1934) '

175-199. Maryland Historical Society.

Quinn , Dorothy MacKay. "Maximilian Godef roy and Eliza Godefroy. II . , Maryland Historical . Masrazine . LI! (March 1957)' 1 - 34 .

Maryland Historical Society . :

Scharf , J . Thomas . The chronicles of .

Baltimore . . . . Baltimore : Turnbull Brothers, 1874.

' ~ctiarf , J . Thoma!? .. H'is'tory o·t · Ba·1 timo·re 'City· a·nd· Cou·nty From the

Earliest Pe·r iod' t0: th'e Prese·nt Day : . . .. Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1881.


l'ott11 t0~300o (July 19~9)

(N umbor all ontrloe)

UI .:0 STATES DEPARTMEN T OF THE INTF.RIOR NATIONA L PARK SERVICE

(


INVENTORY · NOMINATION FORM

(Con tin uation Sheet)


#9 . REFERENCES continued

MHT B- 5 I TATl.l

Maryland COUNTY

Baltimore city FOR NPS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMBER I OAT E

I

· Toker , Franklin~ "James O ' Donnell : An Irish Georgian in America . " Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians XXIX (May 1970) , 132-140 .

-Waesc he, James F . "City ' s Contribution to unitarianism ." The Sun (Baltimore) , February 5 , 1967 .

Yo~ng , William (ed.). Dictionary of American Artists , Sc ulptors and Engravers From the Beginning to the Turn of the Twentieth Century . (reprint) New York : Arno Press 1968 .

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Baltimore City PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY

(Type all entries - attach to or enclose with photograph) ENTRY NUMBER I OATE

I [l. ; N.AME·

COMMON: First Unitarian Church ANOI OR HISTORIC : First Indeoendent Christian Church

12. 1,.0CATION . -

STREET ANO NUMBER:


Baltimore STATE: I COOE l couNTY: I CODE

Maryl and I 24 I Baltimore City 1510 13.' f'.'HOTO REFERENCE I

PHOTO CREOIT: Bal timore Department of Planninq - Filip Sibley CATE OF PHOTO: 1968 NEGATIVE F i l.ED AT: Commission for Historic and Architectural

Preservation , 402 City Hall, Baltimore, Maryland J4'. ' 1 DEN1'f F' ICAf ior;i

DESC.RIBE VIEW, D I RECTION, ETC .

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West elevation

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MHT B-5 51. A T E

Maryland COUNTY

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E NTRY NUMBER DATE

·~··. ··:·

Christian Church . '

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SOURCE:

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ACCESSICLE I (Cl1cck One) TO THE PU!!LIC

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"This church is a !'est rained rectangul ar structure, devoid of excess ornanc:Jt , but with a Hell-proportior:.ed Tuscan arc.:i.de and a vaulted ;:o:::-ch frc~1 uhich· five b:::-onze C.oor·s O[.'en into the :interior. The nearl:/ sqa.n-e :L!terior is cro:-med b:: a l arge dome fifty- five feet in dia":letcr, 0:1Ce the dist:L1i:;uish:...'!~ features of both the exterior a-11d i:iterior. tinfortu:1ately the ~coustics p:::-oved to be bad , with the res'..llt tha.t in 1893 a plaster level-"lault was :L:.ser ted below the do;ae , thereby tot.ally obscuring the original form of the interior.

The church has a sir.1plc classic look en the outside ' l arc;ely because t he brick anC. stone :::asonr-f is covered •·:ith stucco a.rid the reoldings are slim and restra:incd . Gn the pediz::ent is a figure of the Ange.L of Truth surro'.l."1ded by rays of light and hold:Lrig a scroll inscri~ed in Greek letters : "l'o the Only Jod 11

• This was also executed by Antonio Capellano. (From. Howland :'.e S?ence!' p . 43) .

N. B. In recent years , this sculptll:'e was broken and has been restored by Hem-y :aeri;e, Balti.-:iore sculptor .

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"

-FE~ · OO (("hock One or Mora "~ Appropr/ltf<')

I P te-Colvmbion 0 )6th Contvry 0 . . 18 th C• nlvty 0 20th Contu ry 0 ) S1h Century 0 )7th Conlvry 0 19th Cenlvry ~

S.f'EClf'.I ):: o•:n:c~1 (If Appllcnhlo ftnd Known) · 1 ~1 R

A RE .i. S OF SIGNIF I CANCE: (Cllt-ck.p .. c or Mou: "• ,<p~opr/ocr) •

Abor igi'1ol EJuco tion 0 P o litlco l 0 U;bon P lanning 0 P te hi s totic 0 E ng;ne or ing i.D R• l iglon/Phi· Other ( Spo clly) 0 . His lorlc 0 lnclu1h y 0 loaophy ~

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Mus ic - 0 Tronsportolion 0 ST A.TEMENT OF SICNIFIC ANCE (Include PereonoQea, Deloa, E: .... f!C3, Etc.)

. . Historical : ..

The c ornerstone of the First Unitarian Church was laid June 5, 181?, and, although still i.1~0;-~ple'te, the church ~.;as dedicated October 29, 1818. At the cedication Dr . ~!ilJ.ia, 3llery Cha.l111L~G of Boston de.Livered ·a sermon whi.ch 1s still consi:lered t he keystone of Unitarian principles . J.e..,erend Jared. Sp~:!'l:s, who was the minister until 1823, later became President of i:iarv<:'..rd Uniyersity. -Or.e of "the early nenbers of the church was J.e::::ora..'1.dt ?ea.le . (The church contai,ns a small museu~ of historical ~ate~ia.L) .

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Form 10-300 (Dec. 1968)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM


COMMON :

First Unitarian Church ANO/ OR H ISTO RIC :

STREET ANO NUMB ER:

1. w,_.+ F'""'""~ I in ~+--•+ { -• C IT Y OR T OWN:

Balti111ore STATE

,,,,..~ ... ---I CODE I C OUNTY:

COUN TY:

FOR NPS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMB E R I DATE

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... '· •, . •,. "

I C ODE

I I D-1 + i -~-- l': ... I

CATEGORY (Ch eck One)

District 0 Building

Site 0 Structure

Obje~ t 0

&I D

Publ ic

P rivate

Both

-0 JJQ D

OWNF.:RSHIP

Pub lic Acquis it ion:

In P roces5

Being Considered

PRESEN T USE (Check One or More BS Appropriate)

Agri cu lturo I 0 Government D Park 0 Commercial 0 Industrial D Private Resid ence D Educa t ional 0 Military D Rehgious ~ Er"1tertoinment D Museum 0 Scientific 0

STATUS ACCESS IBL E

TO TH E PUBLIC

Occupied ~- Yes:

D 0

Unoccupied 0 P reservation work

in p rogress 0

Transporta tion 0 Other ( Specify) D

Restricted 8:J Unrestricted 0

No: 0

Comments 0

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OWNERS NAME:

I S T ATE :

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I COD E

I C I T Y OR T OWN:

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COURTHOUSE. R E GISTRY OF O EEDS.-E'°"·T~C-:---~---------~~

STR EET AN O NUMBER:

'STA T E I CO DE

I CITY OR T OW N :

A PPROXIMATE A CS EAG E 01' NOMI NATED PROPERTY: citv olot: lf~'T1{'~~:R 1tseN:J,\t'idN_tN_· ~E_X_IS_T_l_NG_s_u_R_V_E._Y_S ~---~----~-------"-~---~---· ....... :'.

T I TL E O F SURVEY :

DATE O F SURVEY: Federal n Stole 0 C'?unty 0 Local O DEP OSI TOR Y FOR SURVEY RECOROS:

S TR EE T ANO NUMBER:

rTA TE : I COO E

I C I T Y OR T OWN:

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CONDITION (Check One)

Exce llent Good 0 Fai r 0 Deteriorated 0 Ruins 0 Unexposed 0 (Check One) ( Ch eck One)

Altered 0 Uno ltered lJil INTEGRITY Moved 0 Original Site [X

DESCRIBE TH E PRESEN T AND ORIGINAL ( If known) P HYSICAL APPEARANCE

The exterior of the First Unitarian Church is quite plain and has a solid, massive quality. The entrance is on the south (West Franklin Street) and is emphasized by three arches with a slightly projecting pedi•ented pavilion. The three arch motif is employed on the sides with three windows in arched niches forming the primary decoration. The front is plain except for the pediment with its red-brown (terra-cot~ ?) angel, sun, and clouds on it; sunbursts in the same material are employed over the three main entrance doors. Below the are three entrance arches set on Tuscan columns. Behind this columnar screen is the entrance porch itself, set l.!l antis, with two additional entrance doors, one on each side within the recess of the porch. The entrance doors are flanked by "' plain pilasters which repeat the rhythm of the porch columns. m The porch is raised on a sandstone base with five marble steps. m The ceiling of the porch is groin vaulted. The entablature of the pediment continues around the entire building.

The iron fence with the granite base and posts appears to be early Greek Revival.

The interior i a an giant barrel I vault running from entrance to altar (which is at the north) and is coffered and decorate Mith large, elaborate rosettes. The triple arch motif is followed out in the interior at the side, forming a nave arcad between the ;sid•-ai$les (at the wall) and the main 1body .of the church. There is one main, central aisle leading to a raised chancel ' (about JS' deep,, also with coffered ceiling and having a mosaic of the Last Supper over the altar. There are three blind windows filled with stained glass . behind the alta the glass in the side windows is non-iconographic, being simpl geometric designs. There is an organ lo~ at the rear support by four co,umns similar to those on the exterior. The decoration is fairly rich and includes pilasters with Corinthian capitals between the arches. There are a few monuments on the walls. Slip pews are at least 19th C, if not l8~7. Interior walls are presently putty color.

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PERICO (Check O ne or More as Appropri ate)

Pre-Columbian 0 16 t h Century 0 18th Cent ury 0 19th Century Ci 15th Century 0 17th Century 0

SPECIFIC OATE(SI (II Appl icable end Known)

AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More BS Appropriate)

Aboriginal Education 0 Political 0 Prehistoric D Engineering 0 Religion/ Phi-

Historic D Indus t ry 0 losophy 11'1 Agricu lture D Invention 0 Science 0 Art D Landscape Sculpture 0 Commerce D Architecture 0 Social / Human·

Communica t ions D Literature 0 i tarian 0 Conservation D Mi litary O Theater O

Music 0 Transportation 0

STATEMEN T OF SIGNI FI CANCE (Include Personaaes, Dates, Events, Et c .)

6-15'

20th Century 0

Urban Planning 0 Other (Spec ify) 0 Architecture

Designed by Maximilien Godefroy( the architect of St. Mary's Seminary Chapel (Gothic Revival) and of the Baltimore Battle Monument (Egypto-Roman), the First Unitarian Church shows the Frecnh-born and trained architect's ability in handling classical vaocabulary. This period 1n American architecture was characterixed by the native, late Georgian, 'Federal'-Ada•esque style, and by the introduction of neo-classic forms by,European architect-immigrants, such as Latrobe, Hallet, Ramee, Godefory, etc., which helped pave the way for the Greek Revival. Although not based on any particular model, the First Unitarian Church is clearly based on late Roman forms. The building is (almost ?) square and the idea of the Roman Pantheon (used by Jefferson for the Library, the 'Rotunda', at the Univereit~< of . 1 1

Virginia~ 1817ff) with its spherical interior expressing 1 pantheism and especially the idea of universality, wasJ •

probably 1n the mind of Godef~•y, however, regardless of the designer's intentions, the building is expressive of Unitarianism (as oppQs~d · to, e.g. rectangular, vaulted , ..... chapel at St, Mary 's, or opp~ed to King's Chapel, Boston, an Anglican church taken over the Unitarians). As with most Roman buildings, the •~phasis was on the interior. Originally the interior of the First Unitarian Church was spherical like the Pantheon in Rome, however, the acoustics were poor, so the barrel vault renovation was instituted i n 1880. The church was restored in 1954.

The first Unitarian Church, like King's Chapel, Boston, is both important in the htstory of American architecture and in the history of Unitarianism.

8-5 ~:<9./ MAJORB.t.st:iOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES ....

'· . .

Talbot Ham Ii n, Greek Revival Architecture ..!.!l America 1944

Baltimore §!!n, February 5, 1967

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4 il>j ;EOGRAPHICAL DAT A :•.

L.AT JT UDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINA TES 0 ..LATITUDE AND L.ONGITUDE COO R D INA TE S

OEFINING1

A RECTANGLE LO·CATlf' G T HE PROPEF\TY DEFINING TH E CENTER PO INT OF A PROPERTY

l .• J - ... • . . • 1 . R ' . Q F. LESS T, HA_N C?N~ ACR E

CORNER LATITUD E LONG I TUDE L. AT I TUDE LONG I TUDE

Degrees M i nutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Mi nutes Seconds

NW 0 . . 0 . 0 . . 0 . . NE 0 . ' . - 0 . .. ! -· : .. -.! t ... SE 0 . 0 . . SW Q . . 0 . . -

LIS T ALL STATES AN O COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERL A PPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE: . CODE COUNTY '\ COC)E


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STA TE: .

CODE COUNTY: CODE

STATE: cod'E: COUNTY: C O DE

: ~. •.· · ··.·· tt.):,. F.ORM PREPARED_B:Y .,.·.·. ·····:· . :·::::·~::·-·~:.. .. ··: ·.·. . ~:'. : .. : "' .... :· ·::· : :-;'./•·;· ·· -·'· .::>: ... . . '':: '': ,,,._,, · .. {: :.:

NAME AND TI TL E:

Wi lliam U ---- n ORGANI Z A T I ON -

I D ATE . . • 11n i v,...,.s i tv· of: n .... 1.=. ....... __ ···-- ?. 10h0 STREET A N D NUMBE R:

.. Department of Art ' Hi st or~ .. -.

C IT Y OR TOWN : STA T E CODE

Newark ..... ~ ... .: Delaware I t.. '

1 • Ji. ·· ST-.AT:t: LIAISON _c>f:,t=rCER c~~TIFiCA'nO)!J' . :·:;.(. :· .: .. NA;r.1:qN'A l.'.'~ RE;Gfi$TE~ : v~~t~H:M:r10N

• .... .::· ..... .; , . .

As the "designated State Liaison Officer for the Na - <

tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public L aw I herebv certify that this property is inc luded in the

89-665), I hereby nominate t his property. for inclusion Nationa 1 Reg ister.

in the National Register and certify t hat it has been

evaluat ed according to the criteria and pt9ce~ r~s set . . for th by the Nationa l Park Service . The rec ommended

Chief, Office of Archeolo~y and His toric Preservation level of significa nce o f this nomination is:

Nationa l 0 State 0 L ocal 0 '

. Date

Na me ATTEST:

T i t le

Keeper of The National Re~ister

D at e Date

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