By Luke Anderson
August 12, 2015
The First Congregational United Church of Christ was built in 1911. This classic example of Gothic Revival architecture sits within the Sheridan Downtown Historic District. Character-defining features of the church include asymmetrical massing, peaked roofs, lancet-arched windows, stained glass windows, large buttresses, and a crenelated entry tower. The building has served the First Congregational Church ever since it was built, and still serves a small, active congregation. It also functions partially as a community center, hosting a soup kitchen, Girl Scouts of America, Alcoholics Anonymous, and other various non-profit groups as need dictates.
The First Congregational Church building retains a very high level of historic integrity. Sound construction methods and durable original materials have left the building in terrific shape. Already one hundred years old, continued use, occupancy, monitoring, and maintenance of the building should allow it to last at least another hundred. The church is architecturally significant due to its age and its traditional Gothic Revival style which is indicative of the time of its construction. Gothic Revival architecture was quite common for churches and college buildings at the turn of the century. Culturally, the church is significant because it has served its community for so long. The church still provides important services to the city of Sheridan today, and is an important contributing structure to Sheridan’s Downtown Historic District.
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This project was funded in part by a Historic Architecture Assistance Fund grant, and completed by CTA Architects and Engineers. The program is offered by the Alliance for Historic Wyoming in partnership with Wyoming Main Street and the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office, and is made possible by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund.
