Former First United Methodist Church, Port Arthur Texas

This is the Ruby Ruth Fuller Building in Port Arthur, Texas.  It was built as a Methodist Church in 1915.

This church may frankly not belong on this blog, as I really question if Port Arthur can be considered the "West".  I highly doubt it.  I don't know where the West really starts, but it's somewhere west of Port Arthur. Still, this church is west of the Mississippi, so I've included it here.

All of which, I suppose, begs the question a bit.  If churches in Port Arthur are in the South (and there are a lot of churches in Port Arthur, are churches in Houston in the South also?  What about churches in Dallas.  Maybe.  Maybe some are in both the South and the West. What about churches in Oklahoma?

Well, we have no desire to create a vast new profusion of blogs, but perhaps we should add a few for this purpose.  We're pondering that, and have reserved the URLs to do it.  For the meantime, as this posting is at least geographically credible, we'll be content to post this one here.

"The Church", Granger Wyoming

I took these photographs last year, and posted them at our companion blog, Painted Bricks, where under this title:

Painted Bricks: What is it? Granger Wyoming:

My text at that time noted that I thought the building had church like features, but then it had school like features as well, and I wasn't sure what it had been built as.

Well, to my surprise, two people very familiar with the building posted on that thread and cleared the mystery up.  There responses are below, and you can see the complete original text by following the link on this item provided above.

There use to be a bar in the basement Called the Church bar, my parents own it. The bar has been closed for a long time now. My mom knows more history about it then I do. :) never thought I'd see a blog about the home I lived in, pretty neat to read.

September 16, 2016 at 5:40 PM 

Hello i can tell you that this building was built in 1924 with the intentions of being a church . It was home to Granger school for years . i think it was in the late fifties early 60s Clarice and Martin Tyler took ownership of the building and remodeled the lower part into a bar and the upstairs into living quarters . They closed the bar in July of 2001 and my fiancee and i purchased it in 2003 .

September 16, 2016 at 5:40 PM

Now we know!

Muslim Students Association, Laramie Wyoming

This is a bad photograph of the former church in Laramie Wyoming which is now the Muslim Students Association.  The church in the background is St. Paul's United church of Christ.  This building was clearly originally a Christian church, but I don't know the history of the building, so I don't know what it was.

For classification purposes, I'm listing this under the label "mosque" but I don't think it really is. Rather, its a center. The Muslim students at UW have had a center for quite some time, but up until this building was acquired I do not think they had one that was purpose built as a religious building.  Indeed, when I was a student at UW their center was in an apartment building even though there were a lot of Muslim students at that time.

This photo was taken from my truck as this is in a residential neighborhood and, given the context of the times, stopping to take a better photograph probably would have looked a bit odd, so this bad photo will have to suffice.

Unknown, Chugwater Wyoming

This is a church that has been converted into the Chugwater Branch Library, a branch of the Platte County Library, in Chugwater Wyoming.  I'm not familiar with the history of the former church, which retains its cross.

Unknown former church, Cody Wyoming (but probably the original Methodist Episcopal Church)

This structure in Cody Wyoming was very obviously once a church, which is even more evident if you are closer to it and can see where some of its features have been removed.  It's been converted into a two story retail establishment.  I don't know its story, but it is located directly across from the current Cody United Methodist Church which might, or might not, give us a clue about its earlier history.  At least the story told about the building of Christ's Episcopal Church in Cody would suggest that this is the original Methodist Episcopal church, in which it was built in 1902.

This too is a poor Iphone photograph, and I will replace it with a better photo if the situation presents itself.

Unidentified Church, North Casper Wyoming.

This is the location of a former church in North Casper, Wyoming.  Now its the site of Food For Thought, a charitable organization in Casper.  I unfortunatley do not know what denomination built hte church, although the letters "W M" are on the door, indicating that perhaps it was once a Wesleyan Methodist church.

The church is near a park dedicated to James Reeb, a minister who lost his live in the South during the Civil Rights era, but I do not know of a connection, off hand, between him and this church.

St. Anthony's of Padua Convent, Casper Wyoming

Not a church, but a former convent located next to the former St. Anthony's School, which can be seen to the right of this photograph. This convent included a chapel within it. It has not served as a convent for many years. This building is located one block from Our Savior's Lutheran Church, also depicted on this blog, and St. Mark's Episcopal Church is located on the next block, across the street from the school.  The structure was built in 1954.

Postscript:  

An article in today's Casper Star Tribune reveals that his building has been converted into luxury apartments, with no two being the same as no two rooms in the building were the same.  It is presently at 60% occupancy.  The developer, who owns the neighboring school, chose the name The Marian for it, recalling its role as a convent.  The plan noted in the comments fell through, and he came up with this new one.

Date of original post:  January 25, 2011.

Date of update:  December 20, 2015.

Our Lady of Light (Loretto) Chapel, Santa Fe, New Mexico

These photographs depict the Our Lady of Light (Loretto) Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Built from 1873 to 1878 for the Sisters of Loretto, who ran a school nearby, the chapel is famous for its spiral staircase, which has perplexed observers for decades. The staircase lacks a visible means of support, was built with only hammer and saw, and features only wooden nails.  The builder of the staircase is unknown, and left before being able to be paid.  Some claim the staircase as miraculous.  

The chapel was deconsecrated in 1971, following the closure of the school in 1968.  Today it is privately owned and features a museum and is used for a wedding chapel.

This chapel was built basically next door to the  Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, and was built while the cathedral was under construction.

Temple Events Center, formally Temple Emanuel Synagogue

It took me some time to figure out what this building is, or was. Given the styling, I thought perhaps it had been built as an Eastern Rite or Orthodox church.

No, in fact it was a synagogue. This building was the Temple Emanuel Synagogue, built in 1899. I don't know its history beyond that, but today it is an events center and available for various uses.

Photograph with the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in the background.

Of interest, this building strongly resembles the St. Peter and St. Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church in Salt Lake City, which was also originally built as a synagogue.

Observant folks might notice that this post was first made in February 2011, but has now reappeared in November, 2012.  The reason is that I happened to be parked in this neighborhood a couple of days ago and had the opportunity to take photographs of this structure from the sidewalk, as opposed to from inside my vehicle, as the first photo was taken.

Unknown, Lander Wyoming

This building obviously was built as a church, but no longer is used as one.  I don't know what its use is today.

Unknown Church, Riverton Wyoming

This building was obviously built as a church, and apparently is no longer used as one. I don't know anything else about it, other than it is on the same block as the current, and much more recent, Episcopal church in Riverton.

B'nai Israel Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah

This is the former B'nai Israel Temple in Salt Lake City. I don't know the date of the construction of this synagogue, but it's history is explained in the bottom photograph. Interestingly, it's located only one block away from the current St. Peter and St. Paul Orthodox Church, which was also built originally as a synagogue. Like Temple Emmanuel in Denver, this synagogue is no longer used as a synagogue. Unlike the Denver structure, however, this former synagogue is no longer a public building, but houses the offices of an architectural firm.

Perhaps displaying my ignorance on synagogue architecture, this is the third former synagogue I've photographed where I had no idea that I was photographing a building that had originally been a synagogue. These buildings all have the appearance of Orthodox churches to me.

Of some note, this particular synagogue was modeled after Berlin's Fasanenstraße Synagogue which was destroyed during the infamous Kristallnacht by Nazi thugs. For that reason, while it is nice to see that it is so well preserved, it is a bit sad to realize that it no longer serves its original purpose.

Seton Building, Denver Colorado

This building is named for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the Catholic saint strongly associated with charity. But I don't actually know what the building is. It clearly had a religious purpose, and may have been a convent for the Sisters of Charity. I suspect that this is the case, but I do not know for sure.

It no longer serves this purpose, however, and a plaque on the building indicates that it is now an art studio.

It's a pretty structure. The back of the building borders a parking lot, and from the back, when I first saw it, I mistook it for a Greek Orthodox Church.