McDowell Memorial Presbyterian Church Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Text courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form PDF for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.

The McDowell Memorial Presbyterian Church is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of Architecture for its embodiment of the distinctive characteristics of exterior materials, massing, plan, and physical relationship to the street typical of Philadelphia churches of its period; and as a notable example of the Richardsonian Romanesque style, a national design idiom. The McDowell church is also important for the high artistic values inherent in its interior decoration, particularly its remarkable set of Tiffany stained glass windows, including an unusually large and impressive window arch over the pulpit dais, and in its architectural carving. The combination of the overall organization of the church, its style, and high quality of its interior decoration represent the distinctive characteristics of the national trend in the 1880s and 1890s toward theatrical, auditorium-plan churches. The McDowell church meets Criterion Consideration A, since, while it is a religious property, it derives its primary significance from its architectural and artistic distinction. It should be noted that while this property is currently owned by an African-American congregation, it does not derive its significance from its association with any of the historic contexts developed in the African-American Churches of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Multiple Property Documentation Form and is nominated independently of that cover document.