Houses of God
by Doresa Banning
Despite a century or more of floods, fire or vandalism, three Gothic Revival–style churches have survived in Northern Nevada—St. Mary in the Mountains, First United Methodist Church and Trinity Episcopal Church. Gothic Revival imitates elements of Gothic design, popular during the twelfth to sixteenth centuries. Prevalent in this style are pointed arches above windows and doors, ribbed vaults, great glass expanses and pointed spires.
ST. MARY IN THE MOUNTAINS, VIRGINIA CITY
Financed by several of the Comstock's "silver kings," including John Mackay (one of the richest people in the world at the time), St. Mary's, as it is commonly called, was built by Father Patrick Manogue in 1868 at a cost of $65,000—roughly equal to $4,875,000 today. The existing church (111 E. Street) is the third—the first blew down in a storm and the second proved too small for its rapidly growing congregation—although it, too, has been partially rebuilt after two catastrophes. The Great Fire of 1875 destroyed the church's wooden aspects, and part of it was dynamited in a later fire in a failed attempt to stop the flames.
For just over a year, from 1957 to 1959, a group of monks, dubbed the "Mad Monks," removed everything inside the church believed to be ornate and worldly, because they believed it distracted them from communicating with God. They swapped the windows' colorful Belgian stained glass for clear glass and removed several of the church's supporting structures—2 balconies that ran along the nave's sides and the choir loft with nearly 1,000 pounds of hand-carved panels. Consequently, the building is now somewhat unstable, the steeple leaning 3 feet eastward.
The granite-block and red-brick structure is embellished with white architectural detail on the exterior. Atop the pitched metal roof sits the white belfry which houses a 2,264-pound, iron-copper bell. Turrets and a cross-topped, rust-colored spire add height.
Outside the church-front are three ornate wooden doors with white, compound-arch surrounds. Two tall brick spires flank the outer two doors while two smaller white spires flank the middle one. Each touts a cross. A pitched, finial-topped roof covers each doorway. Above those are stained glass windows adorned with white tracery, or supporting stonework.
Inside, 12 70-foot-high redwood beams, harvested from Tahoe forests, catch one's eye. Extending from those across the ceiling are wooden (likely redwood) ribbed vaults decorated with multifoil carvings.
Numerous stained glass windows with distinctive tracery enhance the walls. Most were made during the 1960s and 1970s. Few originals remain but include the outstanding rose window on the sanctuary's back wall.
The light fixtures date back to the church's beginning. A large brass chandelier drops from the ceiling, and smaller fixtures are attached to the redwood beams.
On display are religious collectibles, such as a solid silver candelabrum, vestments sewn with spun-gold thread and intricate petit point depictions.
The church basement serves as a museum, showcasing more than 500 artifacts discovered in the "dungeons" in 2003. They include Father Manogue's vestments and furniture. Among other items are the Father's 1908 Thomas Alva Edison, Model D, wax Phonograph Player (it still works) and the original church organ.
FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, RENO
Built in 1926 at a cost of $118,721.45 (including the land), First United Methodist Church (209 W. First Street) is on the Register of Historic Places and is one of the oldest remaining churches in Reno. The three-story building that stands today is the church's third structure (the first two were outgrown). Designed by Wythe, Blaine and Olson, an Oakland, California–based firm, the church was one of the city's first poured-concrete buildings. The wood grain left by planks used as molds for the unpainted exterior is visible in the concrete. The building's rough surface allows vines to adhere and ascend the walls toward the pointed arch and quatrefoil stonework. The belfry, punctuated on top by a cross, contains a one-ton bell. In the evenings, the lit tower and bell create a Reno landmark.
The sanctuary interior, remodeled in 1943 after the first of three Truckee River floods, is remarkable for its numerous stained glass windows, all crafted by Cummings Studios. Within the nave are window depictions of each of Jesus' twelve disciples. Faith, Hope and Love panels are located near the chancel, or altar area, and the Holy Trinity window looms over the balcony. Designed in the 1960s, the eight windows between the sanctuary and narthex, or lobby, showcase religious symbols—a scroll, crown of thorns, harp and more.
Behind the altar is a gift from past church members, the Holy Family Window. The Hosanna Arch surrounds it. Sculpted into this plaster-colored arch are the faces of 50 infants and young children who once were part of the church school. The church organ's pipes further beautify the chancel. Other notable architectural features are the wooden latticework crisscrossing the pointed arch-shaped ceiling, the solid wood pews, decorative arches in the walls and circular metal chandeliers.
TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH, RENO
The Trinity Episcopal Church parish, founded in 1875, resided in two separate locations before its current one (200 Island Avenue). Construction of the third building was begun in 1920, but money ran out with only the crypt, or basement, completed. The crypt served as a makeshift church until 1945, when the existing structure was erected. Trinity's distinctive Gothic architecture exhibits an English influence.
The poured-cement building, tinted the color of wet sand, is embellished along the sides with numerous lancet windows (narrow windows with lancet-shaped arches and no tracery) and in the front with mosaic seals—the Trinity, the State of Nevada, the United States and the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada.
Rising 115 feet from the pitched, slate-tile roof is the Garth Sibbald Memorial Tower, home to a carillon of 35 Flemish bells, installed in 1973. A finial-topped spire soars from the belfry.
The sanctuary is notable for the arch-shaped, wooden ribbed vaults on the ceiling and the prolific use of pointed arches. The wrought-iron light fixtures, resembling period candle-lit lanterns, are original.
The church's Casavant Frères Pipe Organ Opus 3778 (the second largest in Nevada) boasts 2,177 pipes, many of which adorn the chancel and rear balcony. Free organ concerts take place at Trinity on Fridays at noon (except Good Friday).
Arch-shaped doors, made of wood and glass, reflect the English inspiration. They provide entry from the sanctuary into the Bishop William Lewis Chapel and the columbarium, or indoor cemetery. Three separate the narthex from the nave and one serves as the church's front entrance.
Three types of stained glass windows adorn the church walls. In the chapel, faceted glass windows, which resemble mosaics, display Moses and three Hebrew Prophets.
More traditional stained glass windows hang in the clerestory. They show various biblical and historical figures, as well as scenes from the life of Christ. The Christus Rex, the window above the altar, depicts the Trinity.
The lower windows differ drastically—more modern with rectangular and squareshaped glass. Their theme is praising God through various expressions of the creation—the seasons, heavenly human beings and more.
To learn more about the area's Gothic Revival churches, visit www.stmarysvc. org, www.trinityreno.org and www.renofirstmethodist.org