The Church Buildings

Constructed in 1927, St. John's-Grace Church has been designated as an Official City of Buffalo Landmark. Its setting makes it a focal point on Colonial Circle, which is part of Buffalo's Frederick Law Olmsted designed system of parks and parkways.

The church is designed in the English Perpendicular Gothic Style with Art Deco elements. The architects Mayers, Murray and Philip of New York were to have been associated in the project with famed architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (1869-1924). Goodhue had been a partner in the prestigious firm of Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson. Headed by Ralph Adams Cram, this group had become the greatest Gothic-Revival designers of the twentieth century. As evident in St. John's-Grace, Goodhue's distinctive ecclesiastical style was Gothic in form but permeated with a modern spirit.

Unfortunately, Goodhue died before the actual work on the church began.

St. John's-Grace has an unusual floor plan which includes only one side aisle, on the north, and an arcade and clerestory with long perpendicular windows on the south side.

Other special features include handsome stained-glass windows by J. Gordon Guthrie of New York City and a polychromed ceiling.

The original church on the site was constructed in 1893 when the St. John's congregation moved from downtown to Colonial Circle. It was expanded in 1909, and was incorporated into the Parish Hall facilities when the present church was constructed in 1927.

Source: Church Tales of the Niagara Frontier, by Austin M. Fox

To view more pictures of St. John's-Grace Episcopal Church, visit the Buffalo Architecture and History Web Site.

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