I've started a new Instagram hashtag #steepleATL which has me looking. Maybe you can help by hashtagging some Atlanta area steeples. There are plenty of them.
I presume suburbanism and gentrification will erase many of our little church buildings. I'll really miss little landmarks where they don't belong, particularly those amidst houses. I call them walk-to churches.
New Liberty & Praise C.O.G.I.C. is across the street from Bessie Branham Park in Kirkwood. You couldn't build them here today and who would anyway?
Sometimes a little steeple holds its own among the landmarks. Silverleaf Baptist Church sure does. It's on Fort Street at Martin Luther King just west of Oakland Cemetery.
So I'll try to take a picture when I see a steeple. You can help. It's worth getting on Instagram if you aren't already. Remember #steepleATL and geotag them if you can.
"Americans became imbued with the idea that a proper church should be vaguely classical and have a portico and steeple no matter how basic. Hence, to give a clear signal that this 1960s edifice is indeed a house of God, it is fronted with a portico (of skinny columns), and topped by a pre-fab steeple of equally skinny proportions" - THE GIBBS CHURCH: A PARADIGM FOR AMERICA - Calder Loth
Stanton Grove Baptist Church 2015 Memorial Dr SE Atlanta.
Here are a few more. The variations are amazing.
Little Friendship Missionary Baptist Church 5th Ave Decatur, GA
Ingrams Temple Church of God and Christ 1953 Hosea L Williams Dr NE Atlanta in Kirkwood.
Lakewood Church of Hope Atlanta GA 1766 Lakewood Ave in South Atlanta
Bowen United Methodist Church built 1951 211 Arthur Langford Atlanta
The wonderful joy of overscale, bravo. Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church 648 Jordan Lane Decatur, Georgia kind of near Dekalb Farmers Market
The "old" Rock Baptist Church sanctuary Rex, Georgia isn't pointy.
Trinity Baptist Church Etowah Drive at Oostanaula Drive Atlanta couple of blocks off Dresden. Torn down to make two houses. They are nice but now the neighborhood is just houses.
Greater Community Baptist Church 121 Flat Shoals Ave SE Atlanta is the landmark of downtown Kirkwood.
For sale: Morning Star Baptist Church 197 Gibson St SE Atlanta Reynoldstown
Skinny steeples work. Greater Christ Temple Holiness 914 Cherokee Ave SE Atlanta GA Grant Park.
It has everything and I love it: Greater Moses Chapel Baptist Church 890 Boulevard SE Atlanta GA Grant Park.
We've got a few hundred to go: Remember #steepleATL and geotag if you can.
One more thing: If Restoration Hardware sold steeples we'd see more of them on garages in sculpture gardens:
Behold The Commuter Gallery.
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I recently drove past a church in Decatur that is being demolished and thought about what kind of beautiful items could be salvaged, including the steeple. I think you’re on to something here.
ReplyDeleteThey've removed the windows. I need to photograph the steeple before it's gone.
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