Do You Know This Building?
Answers: 1.d) Trinidad; 2.b) 1890; 3.a) Romanesque Revival Lying just north of the swath cut by Interstate 25 as it bisects the town of Trinidad, this Romanesque-inspired church is made of sandstone obtained from a quarry two miles west of town. A heavy round bastion with a conical roof and a pointed-arched recessed entry anchors one corner of the façade. A slender pinnacle, also capped with a conical roof, marks another corner. The round window is eight-feet in diameter. Despite its small size, the building gains height and weight through the manipulation of the stone and windows. Plans for construction of the church began in late 1889. The congregation, with five hundred dollars in the bank, invested the money in excavation and foundation work. The congregation witnessed the laying of the cornerstone, which was said to weigh one thousand pounds, in 1890. Paying for the construction of the church rested mainly with the congregation. Solicitations from friends in other states by correspondence brought money into the fund while work was ongoing. The building and furnishings cost about $7,600 and the land was $1,400. The First Baptist Church was the second commission of record for the Trinidad architectural firm of Bulger and Rapp. Although the partnership between Charles W. Bulger and Isaac Hamilton Rapp lasted only a few years, it resulted in several fine buildings that are an important part of the town’s architectural heritage. Bulger was a Deacon in the Baptist church, which probably accounted for the commission. Bulger left Trinidad in 1891 to practice in Texas, and the following year Rapp formed a partnership with his brother William Morris. The firm had offices in both Trinidad and Santa Fe, New Mexico, and designed numerous buildings over the two-state area. Upon his death, the local paper referred to I. H. Rapp as “one of the most prominent of the pioneer residents of Trinidad.” He was also the architect for most of the town’s important buildings, including the Trinidad Country Club designed in the Pueblo Revival Style for which he would become most noted. This Late Victorian composition owes much to Richardsonian Romanesque
with its straight forward treatment of stone, broad roof planes,
and select distribution of openings. Its asymmetrical façade
framed by a large tower and a slender pinnacle, both topped with
conical roofs, gives credence to its description as a “medieval
fantasy.” The First Baptist Church is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. |
