Stop 16: First Presbyterian Church – 650 2nd Avenue N.
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This impressive church was built in 1929 in the Scottish Gothic Revival style. The church was designed by Minneapolis-based Lang, Rauland and Lewis Architects and Engineers, with Fargo’s William F. Kurke serving as associate architect. The church features buttresses, pointedarch windows with tracery, and lofty interior spaces, which are hallmarks of Gothic architecture. The exterior is constructed of Faribault (Minnesota) limestone, laid in an ashlar pattern. Window openings are framed with dressed limestone, including the tracery of the larger stained glass sanctuary windows. The church was constructed when First Presbyterian’s existing structure was purchased by the federal government to allow for expansion of the post office. A “Committee of Fifty” was charged with overseeing the design, construction and furnishing of the new church. The first service was held in the new facility in 1930. It was said at the time that “Practical building and religion unite in simple, dignified lines.”