Spokane's Houses of Worship...
Much like the old graineries we profiled earlier in the year, Spokane's rich collection of religious buildings often blend into the background and go unnoticed. The thousands of commuters on major arterials like Maple or Monroe St. daily cruise by architectural gems like Plymouth Congregational Church and St. Paul's Methodist Church without even a second thought.
When considering progressive Spokane architecture most people would think of the Opera House or the Farm Credit Building (before Walt Worthy's tile job). However, the ultra modern Temple Beth Shalom or the First Church of Christ Scientist wouldn't appear on anyone's radar. But they should. Other fine examples are less obvious as they're tucked away on side streets, embedded in older neighborhoods, and just don't attract too much attention.
Perhaps the best thing about our inventory of religious buildings is that they span faiths, architectural styles, materials and time. Visiting them all would likely take a few days, but we'll spare you the gas. We teamed up with Todd Sackmann, a great local photographer, picked a mix of known and unknown religious buildings throughout Spokane, and put them into this slideshow. Next time you're careening down Maple St. or Grand Ave. take a sec to look around and admire what we have here.
Very nice show.
Posted by: MK | October 18, 2006 at 07:02 AM
I'm Todd's biggest fan and these images are terrific. He's got a way of "seeing" that makes me want to run right to what he shot and "see" it the same way.
Posted by: austinspace | October 18, 2006 at 11:07 AM
I think the church at 4th Ave. and Washington St. was built before the Great Spokane fire of 1889 also.
Posted by: dan/spokane | October 18, 2006 at 08:05 PM