Memorial Presbyterian Church
Encyclopedia
The Memorial Presbyterian Church is an historic church located a 36 Valencia Street in St. Augustine, Florida
. The church was built in 1889 by business tycoon and St. Augustine benefactor Henry Morrison Flagler and dedicated in honor of his daughter Jennie Louise Benedict who died in childbirth the same year, hence the word Memorial.
Designed by the New York architectural firm of Carrere and Hastings
in the Second Renaissance Revival
style and inspired by St Mark's Basilica
in Venice, the church was built utilizing a novel construction technique pioneered by Franklin W. Smith
, builder of the Villa Zorayda
.
This building method utilizing poured concrete mixed with crushed coquina
stone,
was utilzed in Smith's Casa Monica Hotel
, as well as Flagler's Ponce de Leon Hotel
and Alcazar Hotel
of which Smith oversaw construction.
Like the Alcazar and Ponce de Leon, many of the architectural details were created with terra cotta
.
Upon Flagler's death in 1913 he was interred in a marble mausoleum
within the church beside his daughter Jennie Louise and her infant Marjorie and, his first wife Mary Harkness Flagler.
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
. The church was built in 1889 by business tycoon and St. Augustine benefactor Henry Morrison Flagler and dedicated in honor of his daughter Jennie Louise Benedict who died in childbirth the same year, hence the word Memorial.
Designed by the New York architectural firm of Carrere and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings , located in New York City, was one of the outstanding Beaux-Arts architecture firms in the United States. The partnership operated from 1885 until 1911, when Carrère was killed in an automobile accident...
in the Second Renaissance Revival
Second Renaissance Revival architecture
Second Renaissance Revival architecture is a category of architecture used in classifying buildings listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It has been applied by the National Register for hundreds of places.-See also:...
style and inspired by St Mark's Basilica
St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture...
in Venice, the church was built utilizing a novel construction technique pioneered by Franklin W. Smith
Franklin W. Smith
Franklin Webster Smith was an idealistic reformer who made his fortune as a Boston hardware merchant. He was an early abolitionist, defendant in a civilian court-martial in 1864, author, and architectural enthusiast who proposed transforming Washington, D.C...
, builder of the Villa Zorayda
Villa Zorayda
Villa Zorayda at 83 King Street in St. Augustine, Florida was inspired by the 12th-century Moorish Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. It was built by the eccentric Boston millionaire Franklin W. Smith in 1883 as his private home in St. Augustine, Florida, United States. On September 23, 1993, it...
.
This building method utilizing poured concrete mixed with crushed coquina
Coquina
Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of the shells of either molluscs, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. For a sediment to be considered to be a coquina, the average size of the...
stone,
was utilzed in Smith's Casa Monica Hotel
Casa Monica Hotel
hThe Casa Monica Hotel is a historic hotel located in St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States. The Casa Monica Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in the United States and is a member of the "" National Trust.-History:...
, as well as Flagler's Ponce de Leon Hotel
Ponce de León Hotel
The Ponce de León Hotel was an exclusive hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, built by millionaire developer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler and completed in 1888. The Hotel Ponce de Leon was designed in the Spanish Renaissance style by the New York architects John Carrere and Thomas...
and Alcazar Hotel
Lightner Museum
The Lightner Museum is a museum of antiquities, mostly American Victorian, housed within a historic hotel building in downtown St. Augustine, Florida, USA. The building, in a Spanish Renaissance Revival style, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.The museum occupies three...
of which Smith oversaw construction.
Like the Alcazar and Ponce de Leon, many of the architectural details were created with terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
.
Upon Flagler's death in 1913 he was interred in a marble mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
within the church beside his daughter Jennie Louise and her infant Marjorie and, his first wife Mary Harkness Flagler.