Historic Presbyterian Community Center (Madison, Nebraska) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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First United Presbyterian Church
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View from the southeast
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 Location in Nebraska
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| Location | 104 E. 4th Street, Madison, Nebraska |
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| Built | 1914 |
| Architectural style | Romanesque Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 08001134 |
| Added to NRHP | Dec. 3, 2008 |
The Historic Presbyterian Community Center used to be called the First Presbyterian Church. It's an old church building in Madison, Nebraska, which is in the northeastern part of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States.
This building was built in 1914 for a Presbyterian church group. It was used as a church until 2007. At that time, there weren't enough members to keep the church going. A local group that helps the community bought the building. Now, it's used for fun events like concerts, plays, and art shows. People also use it for special occasions like weddings and funerals.
The building was designed in a style called Romanesque Revival. Inside, it followed a special layout known as the Akron plan. This plan was popular for Sunday-school rooms in the late 1800s. Because of its unique design, both inside and out, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was listed under the name First United Presbyterian Church.
Contents
Exploring the History of the Church
Early Settlers in Madison
The first white settlers to arrive in the Madison area were led by a man named Henry Mitchell Barnes. They heard that there was good farmland available in the Nebraska Territory. In 1866, Barnes, along with his sons William and Frank, and his nephew Peter, traveled by train to Columbus, Nebraska. They explored the land between Columbus and the Elkhorn River before returning to Columbus for the winter.
In May 1867, the Barnes family came back north. They brought cattle and two wagons filled with materials to build a house. They settled near where Union and Taylor Creeks meet. Henry, William, and Frank Barnes each claimed 160 acres of land. They built a log bridge over Union Creek. Henry Barnes built his house using the materials they brought from Columbus. Later in 1867, more families moved to the Union Creek settlement.
Soon after the Barnes family settled, Presbyterian church services began. These services were held in Henry Barnes's house and other settlers' homes. In 1869, a group of church leaders from Iowa chose Rev. Sheldon Jackson to be in charge of missions in many states, including Nebraska. In 1870, Jackson visited Madison to help organize the church group. Services were then held in Madison's schoolhouse, which was built earlier that year.
Growth and Challenges (1870–1900)
The Union Creek settlement continued to grow. Around 1870 or 1871, the town of Madison was planned out on Frank Barnes's land. Soon after, the Presbyterian church group decided to build their own church. Lumber for the building was brought about 35 miles from Columbus using wagons pulled by oxen. The new church was officially opened in May 1872.
This church was also the location of Madison's first fair, held in September 1873. About 50 to 60 people attended. In 1876, the church received Madison County's first church bell, which was a gift from Henry Barnes.
In September 1881, a tornado destroyed the church. After the storm, the church's bell was found in a building across the street. Only the church's west wall was left standing. An American flag, which had been hung for a memorial service for the recently passed James Garfield, was still on the wall and was not damaged. Instead of rebuilding in the same spot, the church group sold the land. They used the money to build a new church in a different location. This new church, which cost $2,000, was officially opened in 1882.
In 1894, a bell tower was added to the church, and the building was celebrated again. Around 1897 or 1898, the church group decided to support itself financially. Before this, they had received money from a national church board. To become self-supporting, they decided to raise $900 for the pastor's salary.
The 1914 Church Building
By 1910, Madison's population was over 1,700 people. Around 1912, the Presbyterian church group decided to build a brand new church. The 1882 church was taken down, and some of its materials were saved. Some parts were used in the new church, and others were used to build houses in eastern Madison.
The cornerstone for the new church was placed on November 18, 1913. While the new church was being built, services were held in the lodge hall on the second floor of Hein's Opera House. The new church cost $26,000 and was officially opened on June 14, 1914. It could hold 200 people in the main worship area. This space could be made larger to fit 350 people by opening up the Sunday-school rooms next to it.
In the second half of the 1900s, the church's membership became much smaller. The last regular pastor passed away in 1986. After that, different temporary pastors helped out. By 2007, the church group had only nine members, and four of them lived in nursing homes. They realized they could no longer afford to keep the church building. The final service was held in May 2007.
To save the building, a group of people from Madison formed an organization called Preservation Madison, Inc. They became a non-profit group and took ownership of the church. They raised money from donations and from the city's Economic Development Fund. This money helped them maintain the building and make it accessible for people with disabilities. The group now runs the church as the Historic Presbyterian Community Center. It is used for weddings, funerals, and community events like concerts, plays, and art shows.
Understanding the Church's Design
The Madison church was designed using the Akron Plan. This special architectural plan was widely used for Sunday-school buildings in the United States between the late 1860s and the mid-1910s.
What is the Akron Plan?
The Akron Plan was created because Sunday-school teaching methods were changing. In the early 1800s, all students usually learned the same lesson together in one big room. But around 1860, churches started a new way of teaching. All students still learned the same lesson, but they were separated into different grades. This allowed each teacher to teach the lesson in a way that was right for the age and development of their students. More and more churches started doing this. In 1872, a national meeting approved the Uniform Lesson Plan, making this practice common across the country.
The different grades were not kept separate for the whole time. The class would begin with a short worship time led by the superintendent, with all students together. After this, the grades would be taught separately. At the end, the superintendent would lead a five-minute review of the lesson, and everyone would participate in closing activities. This created a challenge for church architects. The Sunday-school building needed to be designed so that students could quickly and easily be separated into grades, and then brought back together for activities with the whole school.
One person who helped solve this design problem was Lewis Miller. He was a rich inventor and business owner. Miller oversaw Sunday schools in Canton, Ohio, and later in Akron. When the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Akron decided to build a new building, Miller worked with architects to plan the Sunday-school part. He came up with a plan where wedge-shaped classrooms were separated by walls that spread out from a central platform where the superintendent stood. Doors on the side of each classroom facing the platform could be closed during separate lessons. They could be opened to let all students see and hear the superintendent during school-wide activities. The new church, following these plans, was built in 1866–67.
This design, called the Akron Plan, was adopted by Protestant churches across the United States and the world. Many churches changed the design a bit. They added a movable wall between the main worship area and the Sunday-school spaces. This allowed the Sunday-school classes and the main church group to be separated or joined together.
The Akron Plan became less popular after 1908. At that time, an international Sunday-school meeting approved new lesson plans where students stayed in separate classes for the whole time. The school-wide activities led by the superintendent were no longer needed. This removed the main benefit of the Akron Plan. Its oddly shaped rooms were not very soundproof and often didn't have good lighting, making them not great for other uses. To create more useful spaces, many Akron Plan interiors were changed. By the early 2000s, very few original Akron Plan interiors remained.
The Madison Church's Design
The Madison Presbyterian church is located on the southeast corner of Fourth and Nebraska Streets. Its architectural style is described as a "modest Romanesque Revival style." Because it represents this style well and has a well-preserved Akron Plan design inside, the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Outside the Church
The church is mostly built from red brick. It has a decorative stone band and a low wall at the top made of Bedford stone. Lighter tan brick is used for patterns and decorations.
The building is mostly rectangular. A six-sided section on the west side holds the Sunday-school room. Two short square towers stand at the northeast and southeast corners of the building. On the east side of each tower, concrete steps lead to an entrance. One entrance goes to the pastor's office, and the other goes to the main worship area. A slightly taller square bell tower stands near the southwest corner. The main arched entrance to the building is on the south side of this tower.
A large round-topped window is located between the two towers on the south side. Another similar window is between the two towers on the east side. Smaller round-topped windows are on the east and west sides of the bell tower, at about the same height as the south entrance. On the south side of the bell tower, above the doorway, there are two diamond-shaped windows set in a raised rectangle of light-tan brick. On the east and west sides, at the same height, there are similar designs, but with diamond-shaped decorations made of brick instead of windows. Above these are pairs of round-topped windows with wooden shutters.
An eight-sided dome with windows at the top sits on the main part of the building. The roof of the many-sided Sunday-school section slopes upward. Then, it has short vertical walls that form a kind of smaller dome, also with windows.
Inside the Church
The main entrance, on the south side of the bell tower, leads to a small entry area. From here, short sets of stairs go up to the main worship area and down to the basement.
From the main entrance, you enter the main worship area at the southwest corner. This room is rectangular, and its floor slopes downward. An aisle follows this slope from the southwest entrance to the altar platform at the northeast corner. On both sides of this aisle, curved oak pews (church benches) run diagonally across the room. A large pipe organ stands on the north side of the altar platform. Along the north wall is a small platform for the choir. A doorway at the northeast corner, behind the organ, leads to a small office for the pastor.
Two large stained-glass windows are on the south and east walls. In the center of the ceiling, under the dome, is another stained-glass window. It gets light during the day from the windows in the dome above. The bottom of the dome is surrounded by a circle of electric lights.
Two large rolling doors, each 14 feet high by 12 feet wide, separate the main worship area from the Sunday-school rooms. These doors can be closed to separate the two spaces or opened to join them. The Sunday-school area is divided into wedge-shaped rooms by folding doors that are 9 feet high. These doors can be closed to create six separate classrooms or opened to make one large open space.
The basement contains another Sunday-school area, set up in the same way as the rooms upstairs. Under the main worship area is a fellowship room, which is a space for people to gather. North of that is a kitchen. The basement also has two restrooms, a ladies' lounge, and a closet with the pump for the organ. A stairwell at the north end of the basement leads up to an outside door on the north side of the building and down to what used to be the furnace room.
