Architect

The congregation of Second Presbyterian Church was formed in 1839 and its first building was located downtown at Fifth and Walnut on a parcel of land purchased from Pierre Chouteau. The second location of the congregation was in the then-fashionable Lucas Place neighborhood, near the Campbell House Museum, where the congregation worshipped from 1870 until moving to its present location in 1896. Second Church was designed by Theodore Link, who was also the architect of the St Louis Union Station. The exterior of the building features architectural details typical of the Romanesque Revival style that was in vogue in the late 1800s, specifically:

• The use of multiple arches
• Large rough-cut stones
• Decorative stone carving
• Terra cotta roofing tile

The patterns in the border and capital carvings found on the arches are repeated in the interior of the church. The original cost of the sanctuary was $200,000 and the congregation first worshipped here upon its completion in 1900. Since that time the sanctuary has been remodeled, the most recent renovations undertaken in 1987.