The Wrangell sentinel., 1925-02-26
THINGS UNUSUAL
THE SKYSCRAPER CHURCH
By T. T. MAXEY

In 1881. when Chicago was in its swaddling clothes, the Methodists pur- chased plot of ground in the down. town section of the town and built their first" church center upon it,
 By the time 1856 rolled around. the increased growth made the securing of larger quarters an absolute neces- sity. In the meantime, the business part of the city had shaped itself around the church and the value of the church property had increased at a tremendously rapid rate The Meth odists might have sold out at hand some profit, but instead they decided to retain their holdings and capital. ized the situation by combining re- ligion and business after a new fashion. producing a practical novelty. They built a building several stories high, within which was church. and rented the ground floor and all other space not used for church purposes, for business purposes.
 History has again repeated itself. The attendance of 1922 had outgrown the church of 1856. Their plot had become the center of the city's retail business section. So again. the Meth odists enlarged their quarters and In duplicating their former plan on far larger and far more grand scale. they produced the tallest building in Chi cago, the most unusual church build ing in America, and the highest church building in all the world.
 This magnificent skyscraper church is 80 by 1s2 feet and 21 stories tand basement). or 26O feet high. The cor ner Is surmounted by an elaborate but substantial spire which "carries on" 296 feet farther-making the total height of the structure 558 feet.
 An elaborate entrance leads from the street directly into a veritable dream of house of worship" sur rounded by shops and stores within. This secluded church is modeled somewhat after the style of the Eng fish churches, elegant but simple, dig nified, and in silent accord with the creed of the church, with a seating capacity of about 1900 persons and containing an organ as fine In quality and pleasing in tone as the experts of the organ-builder's art could produce.
 The original church is said to have cost s580. The new structure. It's graceful spire dwarfing all other sky scrapers in Chicago. cost about S5.- 100000, and the annual income from the space rented for stores and offices Is e fabulous one.
 Ia the year 1852 the Baptists among the settlers along Santa Rosa creek, up the peninsula north of San Fran cisco on the California coast, deter mined to have religion, organized a meeting house-services being held at the ranch home of one of the mem bers. The good folks flocked to the meetings in such numbers that the house In which the services were held soon became too small.
 As no more commodious structure was available, services were later con- ducted under the protecting shelter of large oak tree. Thus, after fash Ion, increased space which proved highly unsatisfactory when the weather was indictment. was provided. It is recorded that some claimed this tree edifice was "open to both winter storms and summer COWS"
 Accordingly, in 1873. the congrega. ton felt justified in assuming the ex- pense of constructing a new meeting house In the village of Santa Rosa. A giant redwood tree which stood in the valley of nearby river was selected to supply the lumber from which to build the new house of worship.
 Commenting on this matter, the Santa Rosa Republican recently print ed the following: Tt is true that the story of this church building runs only half century. but It is equal ly true that when Jesus was born In Bethlehem of Judea the tree which furnished material for this church was promising young redwood" This monstrous tree was IS feet in diameter and produced 78.O00 board feet of lumber. Part of the top, damaged in falling. was made into shingles.
 The felled tree, cut Into logs, was sawed into lumber, transported to the site and the church duly erected, and. in the words of its pastor, 1t came to pass that "the honor of having a meeting house built from a single tree was given to people who have al- ways been among the leaders in ad- vancing the Kingdom of God"
 The complete building. from foun- dation to roof but not including the floor, however. was built from the product of one massive member of the forest. And. lest you gain an errone- ous impression concerning the size of this religious edifce. let me tell you that the main auditorium measures approximately 40 by 60 feet. It is of- f1cially known as the First Baptist church of Santa Rosa, Cal.