First Baptist Church, 150 S Brown Ave, Edwardsville, IL 62025, US

The red brick Gothic Revival church at the corner of Hillsboro and N. Buchanan is the third church built by the St. Andrew’s Episcopal congregation since it was established in Edwardsville in 1841. The first church was a frame building located on North Main Street, and the second a smaller Gothic Revival edifice built in 1872 at the same location as the present day church. In the April 2, 1914 edition of the Edwardsville Intelligencer, an announcement was made that formal meetings had begun to build a new church for St. Andrew’s. The 1872 church was razed and on October 9, 1916, the cornerstone for the current St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church building was laid. The first service held in the new church building was on Easter Sunday in 1917.Although the architect for the building is unknown at this time, the beauty in the architectural detail of the church indicates that careful consideration was given to the design of the structure as well as the interior furnishings, most of which are original. The architect was paid $305 (6% of $9000) to design the church which eventually cost the congregation $10,774.88.The exterior feature most prominent is the shaped parapet front topped by a carved limestone cross. A parapet front is one where the roof line is lower than the front of the building so the roof is not visible when standing in front of the building. A second limestone cross is incorporated into the front piece above the doors with a rose window centered on the wall between the crosses. Brick buttresses along the east and west walls feature limestone caps that gracefully punctuate the design of the building. The limestone caps frame 3-part leaded Gothic windows, so called because each window contains three Gothic arches within the frame’s design. The red doors symbolizing the blood of Christ are typical of an Episcopal Church. The current doors are replacements, but otherwise the exterior of the original structure is architecturally intact. As for the interior, most of the original furnishings at St. Andrew’s were made locally at the N. O. Nelson Manufacturing Company in Leclaire and represent the largest collection of Nelson manufactured products known to exist. When learning the story of the historic Nelson Manufacturing Company, many are unaware that a plumbing company made anything other than rather mundane items such as pipes, sinks or toilets, which were typical products. But in the early 20th century, a plumbing manufacturer also employed artisans to carve marble and design beautiful wood cabinetry. And the brass shop created ornate fixtures as well as ordinary plumbing.