First Presbyterian Church, 450 Main Street, Skagway, Skagway, AK

Significance: Arriving in Skagway in the summer of 1899 as part of the Klondike gold rush, the Rev. J.J. Walter, superintendent of missions in Alaska for the Methodist church, undertook the fundraising to build a substantial, two-story stone school building, housing classrooms on the first floor and an auditorium on the second floor that could be used for religious services. The following year, the building (now City Hall) was sold to the U.S. District Court for use as a federal courthouse. With the profits from the sale, the Methodists built a handsome new church on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Main Street.

The church was built using wood frame construction, sheathed with horizontal weatherboards. The upper level of the prominent corner entrance tower, the north end gable (with Gothic arch cutout), and the pediments of the two east entrance porches were sheathed with shingles. The building's rectangular footprint is belied by its unusual octagonal sanctuary, an arrangement popular with nonconformist denominations at the time. Cast iron opera house chairs, with wooden seats and backs, were installed to provide seating.

In 1917, the Methodists ceased operations in Skagway and sold their church to a Presbyterian congregation. The basement level was inserted beneath the church in 1956-59. The altar, originally located in today's overflow space, was shifted 45 degrees into a new chancel addition at an unknown date. An addition, housing a ramp at the building's south side, was completed in 2000.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2184

Survey number: HABS AK-244

Building/structure dates: 1900 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: 1956-1959 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 2000 Subsequent Work

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 66000943

presbyterian churches methodist churches religions courthouses wood structural frames clapboard siding alaska historic american buildings survey anne e matsov jeremy t mauro mark schara john wachtel photo skagway first presbyterian church main street architecture american architecture church architecture building church buildings presbyterian church methodist episcopal church library of congress national register of historic places

1900 - 1980

Library of Congress

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