Faith United Presbyterian Church (United Presbyterian Church)

12601 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood; completed 1905. Romanesque.

Exterior: Very light gray, Paleozoic age limestone said to be quarried in Pennsylvania was used for this church. The slightly irregular, rock-faced blocks are partly set in courses and partly random coursed. The limestone contains abundant fossils of brachiopods, horn corals, and other animals. The most diagnostic is the brachiopod Echinocoelia, which indicates that the stone is Middle Devonian in age [Tom Dutro, U.S. National Museum of Natural History, personal communication, 1991]. Limestone was quarried in several Pennsylvania counties; it is difficult to pinpoint the location of the quarry that supplied this stone. Trim, including railings, is sandstone. Some sandstone has drove-work. There has been some minor deterioration of the limestone and the sandstone. The outermost portions of many of the limestone blocks have weathered away, cracks have developed in many limestone blocks, and parts of the sandstone have exfoliated.

Sandstone trim (darker color) and limestone (lighter color) used for the entranceway.

Go to: next section / previous section /main index

The Center for Sacred Landmarks Monograph Series
website design by Mark Hoffman