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Como Congregational Church

Buildings and structures in MinneapolisQueen Anne architecture in Minnesota
Como Congregational Church 1920s
Como Congregational Church 1920s

The Como Congregational Church is a historic church building in the Como neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Opened in 1887 and designed by architect Charles Sumner Sedgwick, a Minneapolis master architect, the church is an example of eclectic Queen Anne style architecture. During its first four decades, the church building is strongly associated with two major Minneapolis and Minnesota historic figures: Maria Sanford, a noted social reformer, speaker and public affairs activist James Elwell, the civic leader, and the public financier associated with the Minneapolis Park System.Como Congregational was Sanford's place of worship (and adjacent to her home), who as a church leader spoke at its pulpit and community meetings with her advocacy of civic reform and Progressive causes.[Note 1] Construction of the building was primarily funded by Elwell, who had founded the surrounding Como neighborhood in 1882, with the intention that the building serve both as an open place of worship and as a community center. Elwell was subsequently active in Como neighborhood and wider social concerns through the church and through the Como Improvement Association (founded by Elwell, based at the Congregational) for the next decades. The building was determined as a Minneapolis historic resource in March 2020.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Como Congregational Church (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Como Congregational Church
Southeast 14th Avenue, Minneapolis

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Wikipedia: Como Congregational ChurchContinue reading on Wikipedia

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N 44.989027777778 ° E -93.232361111111 °
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Southeast 14th Avenue 1035,1037
55414 Minneapolis
Minnesota, United States
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Como Congregational Church 1920s
Como Congregational Church 1920s
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Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity House (University of Minnesota)
Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity House (University of Minnesota)

The Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity House in Minneapolis, Minnesota is the University of Minnesota chapter house of Phi Gamma Delta. The house, located just across University Avenue from the East Bank Campus, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its distinctive architecture, as well as its role in the development of fraternity housing in Minnesota.The house is a unique example of the Vienna Secession movement, making it unusual during a time when other fraternity houses were being designed with Classical Revival and other period revival architectural styles. The architect, Carl Stravs, used Vienna Secession features such as the overhanging roof slab with a rounded edge, pentagonal window openings on the ground floor, and decorations integrated with the main concrete structure. The living room on the first floor has a stone fireplace on the west wall, which Stravs called, "the center of all the social life in the fraternity house". The fireplace is built in rusticated limestone said to be salvaged from the University's Old Main building, which was destroyed by a fire in 1904. The wall has niches housing the busts of Greek philosophers, which were also reportedly salvaged from Old Main.Stravs used reinforced concrete to provide fireproof construction. He also did this in accordance with his design principle for the building, which was, "to provide the most economical, simple and substantial rooming for the use of the junior members of the fraternity, with the least amount of space wasted." Thus, the heavy concrete piers and columns in the 35 feet (11 m) by 30 feet (9.1 m) living room are designed simply, without much ornamentation. The second and third floors each contained five bedrooms, with shared bathroom facilities.The Phi Gamma Delta chapter house, like many other fraternities adjacent to the U of M campus, is part of a "fraternity row" along University Avenue, and was part of a first wave of fraternity house construction between 1900 and 1917. Most of these houses featured prominent entries, with a porch or terrace, and had large living rooms and chapter meeting rooms on the first floor. Individual students usually had rooms on the second and third floors of these houses. The Phi Gamma Delta chapter house, besides being listed on the National Register, is part of the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission's University of Minnesota Greek Letter Chapter House Historic District.