Central Christian Church (Austin, Texas)

Address1110 Guadalupe St.
Austin, Texas 78701

CountryUnited States

DenominationChristian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Websitewww.cccaustin.org

Central Christian Church
Sanctuary viewed from the southeast in 2006
Central Christian Church Show map of Texas Central Christian Church Show map of the United States
30°16′29″N 97°44′40″W / 30.27472°N 97.74444°W / 30.27472; -97.74444
Address	1110 Guadalupe St. Austin, Texas 78701
Country	United States
Denomination	Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Website	www.cccaustin.org
History
Dedicated	November 24, 1929 (1929-11-24)
Architecture
Architect(s)	Robert Leon White; Samuel Charles Phelps Vosper
Architectural type	Romanesque Revival
Years built	1924–1929
Construction cost	$200,000


Central Christian Church
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Area	less than one acre
NRHP reference No.	92000889
Added to NRHP	July 16, 1992

Central Christian Church is a historic church in downtown Austin, Texas, affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Organized in 1847, it is one of the oldest congregations in the city. The church has also been known as Christian Church of Austin. The current Romanesque Revival church building was completed in 1929. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

The Christian Church of Austin, a congregation of the Disciples of Christ, began meeting in Austin, Texas, in 1847 (only eight years after Austin's incorporation),^[1] making it one of the city's oldest churches.^[2]^: 7 The congregation met in a local school for a time, then bought its first church building in 1867 at the intersection of 8th Street and Colorado Street, where it met until the 1920s. In the early twentieth century, the congregation changed its name to Central Christian Church, to distinguish itself from other Disciples of Christ congregations that had formed elsewhere in the growing city.^[1]

By 1924 the church had grown enough to purchase a larger lot at the corner of 12th Street and Guadalupe Street and plan the construction of a larger building.^[2]^: 7 By 1929 the new building was completed, and it was dedicated at a worship service on November 24, 1929. The entire church complex cost roughly $200,000 (equivalent to $3,700,000 in 2024).^[2]^: 10 Central Christian Church became part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) when the denomination was restructured in 1968.^[3] The church building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 16, 1992, in recognition of the church's eclectic but historical religious architecture.^[2]^: 7

Architecture

The Central Christian Church is a U-shaped complex, with a four-story sanctuary on the north, a three-story education building to the south, and a two-story wing linking their west ends. The sanctuary exhibits traditional basilica-plan Christian church architecture, with a nave, flanking aisles, and chancel oriented east-to-west. The exterior walls are of buff brick, with contrasting details of darker brick, cast stone, and glazed ceramic tiles; the complex is roofed in red mission tiles.^[2]^: 3 The building is designed in a Romanesque Revival style, with the sanctuary's blunt, symmetrical façade, two-story aisles with clerestory, pervasive semicircular arches, and an ornamental arcade. The architects were Robert Leon White (a member of the congregation) and Samuel Charles Phelps Vosper; the construction contractor was R.F. Johnson.^[2]^: 7–8

Exterior

The main façade is on the east, with the main entrance to the sanctuary set in a 42-foot (13 m) high opening topped by a semicircular arch. The opening is framed by three concentric reveals, and the arch is topped by alternating voussoirs of brick and cast stone. The doors and their transom windows fill the lower third of the penetration, with a 4-foot (1.2 m) high engraved metal spandrel above these. The upper portion is filled by a stained-glass window depicting the resurrection of Jesus, surrounded by twelve roundels containing symbols of the twelve apostles. A parapet atop the gable is supported by an arcaded corbel table with mascarons inside the arches. A lozenge-shaped acroterium sits at the apex of the gable, surmounted by a trapezoidal cast-stone tablet depicting a low-relief cross.^[2]^: 3

The aisles project outward from the north and south walls of the sanctuary, each with five two-story arched windows of stained glass and a tiled pent roof. Above the aisle roofs, the walls are divided by pilasters into a series of bays with clerestory windows, topped by more arcaded corbel tables under the eaves. The west gable end of the sanctuary features a large blind arch, paralleling the arched entrance in the eastern façade.^[2]^: 3 An two-story office wing fronted by a one-story arcade runs from the southwest corner of the sanctuary southward to the education building, outlining a courtyard between the three structures.^[2]^: 4 A square three-and-a-half-story bell tower base protrudes into the northwest corner of the courtyard, though no tower was ever built atop it.^[2]^: 3

Interior

Inside the main sanctuary entrance on the east is a narthex with polychromatic tile flooring, separated from the nave by a wall of stained glass windows above a wooden dado, penetrated by double wood-paneled doors.^[2]^: 3–4 Portals in the north and south walls of the narthex lead by stairs to the choir loft. The sanctuary holds a four-story nave flanked by two-story aisles, terminating in an elevated chancel at the west end. The nave is separated from the aisle on each side by an arcade of plaster columns with Byzantine capitals decorated with rope molding and leaf carvings. Semicircular arches above the columns support the clerestory walls. The ceiling features exposed rafters and king-post roof trusses, with decorative painted brackets supporting the trusses.^[2]^: 4

Two three-tiered chandeliers hang above the choir loft, and pendant lights hang in the aisles. Double-globe sconce lights on the clerestory walls light the nave. At the west end, an elevated platform for the chancel is separated from the nave by a wooden chancel rail, decorated with ceramic tiles representing the apostles. The west wall of the nave features a 40-foot (12 m) proscenium arch framing the chancel, with a coffered-plaster semi-dome over the apse. The baptistry stands above the rear of the apse, with an arched portal and pediment framing the baptismal font.^[2]^: 4

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas
Archaeological	Andrew M. Cox Ranch Site Levi Rock Shelter Smith Rock Shelter
Business	Arnold Bakery Austin Daily Tribune Building Blue Bonnet Court Brown Building Cambridge Tower Driskill Hotel Goodman Building Green Pastures Haehnel Building Lundberg Bakery Millett Opera House Norwood Tower Paramount Theatre J. P. Schneider Store Scholz Garten Victory Grill Westgate Tower
Civic	All Saints' Episcopal Church Anderson Stadium Austin Central Fire Station 1 Baker Center Austin Fire Drill Tower Austin History Center Austin State Hospital Battle Hall Camp Mabry George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center Central Christian Church Elisabet Ney Museum French Legation General Land Office Building Gethsemane Lutheran Church Dewitt C. Greer State Highway Building Hyde Park Presbyterian Church Lamar Boulevard Bridge Littlefield House Montopolis Bridge Moonlight Towers O. Henry Hall Oakwood Cemetery Royal Arch Masonic Lodge James E. Rudder State Office Building St. David's Episcopal Church St. Edward's University Main Building St. Mary's Cathedral Scottish Rite Dormitory Seaholm Power Plant Texas Federation of Women's Clubs Headquarters Texas Governor's Mansion Texas State Capitol Texas State Cemetery Third Street Railroad Trestle Town Lake Gazebo United States Courthouse (1936) University Baptist Church University Junior High School Anthony and Louise Viaer Alumni Hall Wesley United Methodist Church West Fifth Street Bridge West Sixth Street Bridge
Districts	Bremond Block Historic District Clarksville Historic District Congress Avenue Historic District Hyde Park Historic District Little Campus Moore's Crossing Historic District Old West Austin Historic District Rainey Street Historic District Shadow Lawn Historic District Sixth Street Historic District Swedish Hill Historic District Travis Heights-Fairview Park Historic District West Line Historic District Willow–Spence Streets Historic District
Private	Aynesworth–Wright House Judge Robert Lynn Batts House Genaro P. and Carolina Briones House Brizendine House Carrington–Covert House Daniel H. and William T. Caswell Houses Frank M. and Annie G. Covert House Cox–Craddock House J. Frank Dobie House Fischer House Granger House and The Perch Hildreth–Flanagan–Heierman House Henry Hirshfeld House and Cottage A. J. Jernigan House Keith House Laguna Gloria Peter and Clotilde Shipe Mansbendel House Mayfield–Gutsch Estate McKinney Homestead Millett Opera House Neill–Cochran House Oliphant–Walker House Page–Gilbert House Perry Estate–St. Mary's Academy William Sidney Porter House Louis and Mathilde Reuter House Roberts Clinic Robinson–Macken House Sheeks–Robertson House Col. Monroe M. Shipe House Smith–Marcuse–Lowry House Southgate–Lewis House Wahrenberger House Woodlawn Goodall Wooten House Worrell–Ettlinger House Ziller House
Recreational	Barton Springs Deep Eddy Pool Lions Municipal Golf Course Mount Bonnell Wooldridge Park Zilker Park

Central Christian Church (Austin, Texas)

Architecture

Exterior

Interior

See also

References

Related Articles