El Paso Church buildings from the early 1900s continue to amaze, and here's another. The Altura Presbyterian Church moved from its previous location at Russell and Idalia Streets into this new Gothic cathedral in an April 1924 dedication ceremony after over two years of planning and building.
The original design for this new Church, located at the corner of Byron & Morehead (1 block north of Fort Blvd.), was drawn by the architectural firm of Lehmann & Wuehrmann. Work was to have begun in April 1922 with a speculatitive completion date of April 1923; however work was never begun, and reports of the status of the building disappeared from period newspapers.
In April of 1923, the project suddenly reappeared when an article, accompanied by an architect's rendering, appeared in the 04/15/1923 El Paso Times. The new design was drawn by Captain E.F. Glick, who was an associate at the firm of Barglebaugh & Whitson at the time. We are unable to find documentation identifying him as the architect of any other El Paso buildings, although he may have had a hand in any of the Barglebaugh structures (YWCA? One Texas Tower? Perhaps . . .)
Glick's design was an excellent example of Church Gothic, and a testament to his talent as an architect. It was a red variagated brick structure built on a cut rock foundation, with a slanted (theatre-style) sanctuary seating 400, in addition to 16 classrooms. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on taste), as part of the 1960 50th Anniversary Celebration, Glick's design was altered significantly by an exterior remodel. The remodel is, however, quite handsome also and includes a fair portion of the original architect's design, particularly the windows. The remodel included an increase in the height of the tower, and the addition of Mission-styled parapets on the southern and eastern elevations. We have included a newspaper clipping of Glick's design to compare with the pictures we were able to take today.
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Text, research and modern photography provided to sketchclub.net by Mark Stone, citing period newspapers accessed at newspapers.com
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone, January 2021 |
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| Architect's drawing of the building from the 04/15/1923 El Paso Times, via newspapers.com |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone, January 2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone, January 2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone, January 2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone, January 2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone, January 2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone, January 2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone, January 2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone, January 2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone, January 2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone, January 2021 |
