American Gothic Revival Style Architecture

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Architecture, buffalo, buffalo architecture, Buffalo Architecture Photography, Buffalo Photography, Photography

American Gothic Revival style architecture, a later evolution of the Gothic revival style was prominent in the late 19th century. Many Buffalo, NY builds represent this style. Exterior highlights include using masonry materials to create various decorative and textural contrasts, and these highlights contrasted earlier Gothic designs.

A good local example of this style is St. Louis RC Church. It was erected between 1886 and 1889, on the corner of Main and Edward in downtown Buffalo, NY. Schikel and Ditmar was the architectural firm that designed the church.

Rising 245 feet from the ground, the octagonal steeple, including the 72 foot tall pierced spire, is the only remaining pierced spire in the US. The spire is the tallest open-work spire ever built completely of stone without reinforcement.

Some common internal Gothic components found at St. Louis are its distributive bays, columns, keys and arches. Externally, the church offers a majestic crocket, quatrefoil, pinnacles and finials, in addition to beautiful tracery windows.

Make sure you include this on your must see list when touring our fair city. You can get greater detail on St. Louis by visiting their website; www.stlouisrcchurch.org.

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Babeville, formerly the Ashbury Delaware Methodist Church

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buffalo, buffalo architecture

The immigrants who settled in the Northeast and began this great experiment we call the United States of America, brought their faith with them when they came. Buffalo and WNY was a melting pot of nationalities and has a heavy concentration of houses of worship. Most of these were constructed with the hard work and hard earned dollars of the immigrants who lived in those neighborhoods.

The beautiful workmanship has, for the most part, survived the test of time. Unfortunately, times change and people move on. Many of these wonderful churches have been abandoned. Re-use of these spaces has been difficult.

At Babeville, formally the Ashbury Methodist Church at Delaware and Tupper in downtown Buffalo, NY, Ani DiFranco has found a way to make the conversion work. She has successfully converted this church into office, performance venue, banquet hall and headquarters for her Righteous Babe Records.

Interested in taking a tour? Contact them at www.babevillebuffalo.com to schedule!