First Evangelical Church
National Register of Historic Places

First Evangelical Church

Houston, Harris County, Texas
Listed
November 21, 2006
Type
Building
Period
Civil War
Ref No.
06001066

About this property

First Lutheran in Houston (also known as First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Houston) is a historic Lutheran church at 1311 Holman Street in Houston, Texas. Originally part of the Evangelical Synod of North America, It is part of the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). The current church building was constructed in 1927 in a Lombard Romanesque style. The church building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. On July 1, 1851, a group of Lutherans under Pastor Caspar Messon Braun (1822–1880) founded Erste Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische Kirche (First German Evangelical Lutheran Church), with the state of Texas issuing a charter in September of that year. The first church, a wood frame building, was built at the southeast corner of Texas Avenue and Milam Street. In 1901, the congregation, led by Pastor William L. Blasberg (1862–1935), built a new red brick and sandstone church at the northwest corner of Texas Avenue and Caroline Street. By the mid-1920s, the congregation had become known as First Evangelical Church, but since then has returned to the First Lutheran name. In 1926, the congregation, under Pastor Detlev Baltzer (1889–1962), hired architect Joseph W. Northrop Jr to design a new sanctuary and campus in the 1300 block of Homan Street. Northrop had moved to Houston to oversee construction of the original Rice Institute, now Rice University. The general contractor was James West, with J. C. Nolan and Star Electric and Engineering company being subcontracts. The church is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, with the marker for it being erected in 2002. The Houston Saengerbund began meeting at the church after it sold its existing property in 2004.

Location

1311 Holman St.
Houston, Harris County, Texas
29.74041, -95.37578

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

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Nearby Battles

Narvaez's Texas Expedition (Filibuster)
1819Early Republic
1.4 mi
Camp Logan Race Riot
1917Modern
1.4 mi

Questions about this property

When was First Evangelical Church listed on the National Register?

First Evangelical Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 2006.

What type of historic resource is First Evangelical Church?

First Evangelical Church is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for First Evangelical Church?

The period of significance for First Evangelical Church is recorded as the civil_war era.

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