First Congregational Church of Alameda is a City of Alameda Historical Monument, recognized in 2000 by the Alameda Architectural Preservation Society for beauty and restoration.
The Exterior of the Church
The church was built in 1904, replacing an older structure. The Great Earthquake of 1906 did not seriously damage the building; the Alameda Argus reported only that the chimney fell and damaged a corner.
The church is a striking example of the transitional and eclectic architectural forms that characterized much of California architecture at the turn of the twentieth century. It is a lovely blend of Gothic Revival, Queen Anne and Craftsman aesthetics. Gothic Revival is most known for the pointed arch; other style elements include highly pitched roofs, a sense of verticality, and use of wall dormers and pinnacles. Queen Anne is a picturesque Victorian style. Craftsman features a mix of materials, such as stone foundations and wood shingles.
The building was designed by prominent San Francisco architect Franklin Oliver, and the builders were Delanoy and Randlett. The entire cost was $35,000 in 1904. The church is of wood-frame construction, sheathed in a combination of Arizona red sandstone and cedar shingles (originally unpainted). The original cedar-shingled roof has been replaced by asphalt composition roofing.
The Memorial Garden was dedicated in 2014 to honor beloved church members who have passed. Benches and a memorial plaque were installed along with a variety of perennials.
The Interior of the Church
Entering the church from Central Avenue, one passes through a vestibule into the light-filled narthex from which one can enter the sanctuary through seven double-door bays.
The narthex’s gently flaring east wall contains a large stained-glass window known as the “Angel of the Covenant.” It was presented by Mrs. Sarah Jehu in memory of her daughter, Sarah Rowena Jehu, who was lost when the ship SS City of Rio de Janeiro infamously sank when passing through the Golden Gate in fog on February 22, 1901. Other fine details in the narthex include built-in window seats and a decorative acorn newel cap.
The sanctuary reveals itself as a
large yet intimate vaulted space with rounded corners and magnificent stained-glass windows on the north and south walls, with a balcony covering the rear. The chancel and altar are formed by a raised platform that curves out from the west wall, with the organ pipes behind, contained in a recess of the same Gothic design as the two large windows. The oak pews are arranged in arcs radiating from the pulpit; two side aisles flank and three center aisles divide the pews into sections. Elegant globe chandeliers of gilt metal and milk glass hang from the ceiling.
The stained-glass windows were made by the Lockwood Art Glass Company of Lafayette, Indiana. The colors and craftsmanship in all three large windows, as in the smaller ones, are uniformly excellent. The north window in the sanctuary depicts Christ risen, and was given in memory of Grace Melville Alexander by her parents. The south window depicts the boy Jesus in the temple and was donated by the Adult Bible School.
The marble baptismal font was given by the parents of Edward Norton Snow in his memory. Young Edward sailed through the Golden Gate on a clipper ship in 1895. The ship, passengers, and crew were never heard from again. To the right of the baptismal font rests our Memorial Fund logbook, which records all donations given to the church in memory of loved ones.
The historic Walley-Spencer pipe organ was donated in 1991 by the McKean family in memory of Richard McKean. Originally installed in the Albert Pike Memorial Masonic Temple in San Francisco in 1905, it survived the 1906 Earthquake and served until the 1970s when the building was sold to rock impresario Bill Graham. Graham did not want the organ and gave it to Richard McKean, one of his sound technicians. Lovingly restored and rebuilt, the pipes range from the size of a whistle to ten feet tall.
Between the vaulted sanctuary ceiling and the roof above lies a lofty ventilation space known as “the firmament” that is not accessible to the public. Reached via a narrow ladder behind a hidden panel near the organ, this space reveals the truly awe-inspiring building techniques used to construct the sanctuary. Imagine massive beams of old-growth redwood, held together by bolts, criss-crossing the vast dim space, with the “floor” comprised of the delicate plaster-and-lath backing of the vaulted ceiling.
Exiting through the narthex up the three steps brings you into the south section of the building. As you pass the photo display of our church’s ministers on your right, note the distinctive curved walls on either side, and the unusual curved door leading to the church office (formerly the nursery). The craftsmanship in these architectural details is exquisite.
Through the double doors lies the gallery, a half-oval room originally used to house the Sunday School. Seven bays are formed by twelve round columns paralleling the walls. The bays have since been partitioned off with glassed interior walls, providing a general-purpose gathering space, nursery, offices, and classrooms.
Directly below this room lies the fellowship hall, with the same layout as above but with the bays preserved. There is also an intimately-scaled stage on the north wall.
Accessibility improvements completed in 1998 include an entrance ramp, interior lift, and accessible bathroom. These improvements were made with sensitivity to the preservation of the architectural aesthetic of the building.
The School Building
In 1963 a Sunday School building was built on land previously occupied by two dwellings, adjacent to the church west on Central Avenue, to accommodate the needs of the growing congregation. The scale of the building conforms to the church, but the style—a somewhat brittle, hard-edged foray into concrete-and-glass modernism—is in deep contrast with the rounded, picturesque form of the 1904 building.
The school building was completed just in time to be rendered rather unnecessary, due to dramatic sociocultural changes that resulted in families having fewer children on average, and a dramatic drop in church attendance across the nation. Since 1980, the building has been the home of the Phillips Academy, a school serving teens with special needs.
