Image of the Month for July 2006

The First Unitarian Church in Wheeling, West Virginia, was established in 1907. The church building was dedicated on October 25, 1914. Dr. Samuel A. Eliot, president of the American Unitarian Association, preached the dedicatory sermon. The architect was Edward Bates Franzheim, a noted Wheeling architect. The church had seating for 120 with room for 30 additional folding chairs. There was an alcove for a small organ or piano. The choir sat behind the pulpit. Most of the light came from a skylight. The building was set off from the street by an ornamental court and fence. The congregation is last listed in the Unitarian Year Book for 1932/33.

For more information, see Christian Register, Nov. 5, 1914, p. 1078f. The library also has correspondence between Eliot (who thought the building looked like a theater) and Franzheim in bMS 496/45 (7) and (8). [Photo: bMS 15001/10]

For information on obtaining a copy of this image or using it for publication, see the library's Digital Reproduction Policy.

To see past images of the month, visit the images of people and images of congregations pages.

These images, often buried deep in our collections, are selected by Clifford Wunderlich; please address corrections to him.