February 2026.
Broad Street Presbyterian Church is a hulking Richardsonian mass of stone, with a tower poking above the shorter peaked roofs of its nave. It is one of my favorite buildings in the style in the entirety of Columbus, with an eclectically asymmetrical form and intricate applied ornamentation.
Broad Street Presbyterian Church is located at 760 East Broad Street in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by a parking lot to the north, Broad Street and the Garfield-Broad Apartments to the south, Tallmadge Street to the east, and Garfield Avenue to the west.
History
1893 engraving of the church. Note Broad Street’s residential character at the time and the eclectic house in a similar style across the street. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
Broad Street Presbyterian was founded as an offshoot of the First Presbyterian Church, which itself was established in 1797 by Lucas Sullivant, Franklinton’s earliest settler. Broad Street east of downtown Columbus, and Olde Towne East itself, were rapidly growing and becoming the newly fashionable neighborhoods for Columbus residents in the late 19th century. First Presbyterian’s pastor Francis Marsten took this as an opportunity to expand his denomination in the city. The new Broad Street Presbyterian congregation was established in September 1887, and they had already decided upon the present site at that time, called “Marsten’s Folly” due to its distance. Before completion of the present church, Marsten and his parishioners held their services at Broad Street United Methodist Church a few blocks westward.
Construction on the present church building began in 1887. The Richardsonian Romanesque church was designed by Columbus architect Elah Terrell, whose other works include the demolished Experiment Station at Ohio State and the also-lost Columbus Board of Trade Building downtown. As of Christmas 1887, the basement was completed and roofed. The congregation held its first service inside in October 1888, though the building itself was far from finished. Terrell’s design was completed by 1894 at a cost of $100,000, with the church’s dedication held in October of that year.
1897 photo of Broad Street Presbyterian prior to Packard’s addition. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
Evidently, the church was not quite large enough for the growing Broad Street Presbyterian congregation, and a major addition to the building in a complimentary style was designed by Frank Packard. These were completed in 1908, which extended the church eastward and northward, also doubling its auditorium in size.
The church in 1981, which shows its Packard-designed additions. (NRHP listing).
Another addition to the north of the church included an area known as Palmer Hall. Based on pictures from the NRHP listing, it seems to have still been a Richardsonian Romanesque design, though its forms, fenestration, and details are different. It was built in 1922.
The church in 1948, showing alterations to the exterior. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
Broad Street Presbyterian has been altered over the years. As of 1948, the tower’s finials had been removed, and the tower roof would later be replaced completely to a taller design. Additionally, a smaller secondary tower on the northwest corner had its cupola removed, though the shaft remains today.
A third addition that extended the church further eastward to Tallmadge Street was completed in 1962. Modern in style, it nonetheless attempts to respond to the original with vaulted windows and masonry walls.
A view from the east, showing the 1960 and c. 1980 addition. (NRHP listing)
Finally, it seems that a Postmodern addition and porte-cochere were added to the rear parking lot, along with a new entrance on Broad Street, prior to 1981. These are designed in a very literal recreation of the Richardsonian Romanesque style, which get some aspects right but fail miserably on others.
Broad Street Presbyterian was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It seems that the owners put up quite a stink, as they tried to object. They believed its listing would restrict “the ability of Broad Street Church to engage in future activities with the building.” [sic] However, this failed due to the letter not being notarized. In a very passive-aggressive follow-up letter, the owners decried government “encroachment,” cited the First Amendment’s principle of separation of church and state, and demanded the property be de-listed from the National Register.
In the end, the NRHP decided that due to a lack of “formal” (notarized) objection on time and no fault on their own behalf, the church would remain on the list. Ironically, the church owners seemingly did not grasp the very few legal restrictions that the National Register comes with, as it mainly provides tax benefits; and building owners are free to demolish or alter NRHP-listed buildings as they please, as has frustratingly occurred countless times. (Now, personally, I think listing should come with restrictions, but that would probably greatly increase property owner objections.)
The church recently received a $6 million renovation by Rogers Kranjak Architects, which reorganized the chaotic interior left over from five other renovation projects. The congregation remains the owner and user of the building today.
Photos
I kind of went bananas with the detail shots of this one, since it has so many visually pleasing moments and ornamental features. Anyways, here’s the main Broad Street facade:
The rotunda was originally the central portion of the church’s nave, but with Packard’s addition that is no longer the case. The visual balance of the building has been shifted as well.
Angled view of the original church from the west:
I really like this tower, even though the roof has been changed. We’ll get into it more in-depth in a bit.
Before Packard’s addition, the building originally had a symmetrical plan, aside from the tower and rotunda. It is still in harmony with the rest of the building and Richardsonian Romanesque architecture as a whole, however.
Southwest entrance and tower:
Lunette window and vaulting above the main southwest entrance:
Note the more regular art glass design and the repetitive maple-leaf patterns on the darker stone string course.
Looking up at the tower from the southwest entrance:
Tall, thin windows on the second floor below the tower’s shaft:
Just as in the vaulted windows, the massive sills and lintels on these two reinforce the building’s impression of solidity. They also are smoothly cut versus the rusticated stone that much of the facade is built of.
Beginning of the tower’s shaft:
I’m fascinated by the appearance of the belfry’s projecting base. It looks like some sort of eldritch being’s curled-up tentacles, or the mandible of a skull.
The belfry:
It has a very tall and thin design. I think it feels a little empty now that the current roof lacks a little peak connected to it, which the original one had.
Angled view of the belfry and the smaller vaulted window on the west face:
The spire:
I do like the copper roof, but its peaked edges and height seem more Gothic Revival than Romanesque.
I really like this semicircular projection:
Two entrances and the base:
Pretty gorgeous during golden hour.
Squat pilaster capitals:
These have Ionic volutes but a more Romanesque/Byzantine method of ornamentation.
This may be some of my favorite Richardsonian ornament on ANY building in that style (and it’s my favorite, so I’ve seen many):
The fern leaves are an unusual choice, and they make this course of stone appear to be fossils salvaged from a primeval forest. Right of the ferns appears to be holly, with spiky leaves and berries. I’m fairly confident that the design on the left is olive branches.
Above is a blind arcade:
If you have a good eye, you might notice that the stone inside the arches looks ever-so-slightly different, and that the bands of mortar are wider. This is because these arches once had stained-glass windows, which have since been removed and infilled with stone.
I just love the texture this area achieves, especially with the setting sun here.
The south window, which depicts the Fifth Commandment (“honor thy father and thy mother”):
This window was installed in 1917 and was made by Mark Russell of the Von Gerichten Art Glass Company, located in Columbus. It has a more abstract design, with some of the glass pieces having an almost marble-like texture.
Lunette window, with the typically massive voussoirs of Richardsonian Romanesque arches:
It is also common for high-style Richardsonian Romanesque buildings to have a contrasting shade of masonry used in the vaulting and other accents, as is the case here. It is most commonly a darker tone versus a lighter sandstone that the walls are built of.
A pinnacle on the corner of the gable:
It has a naturalistic, leafy style of ornamentation.
Southeast entrance:
There’s also a side entrance hidden away on the eastern end of the original building:
Original sign on the 1908 addition:
From the east now:
The eastern stained-glass window is a Tiffany window depicting Jesus blessing children. I didn’t get any good shots of it, however. Here’s a similar view further east:
The Postmodern addition:
The main giveaways of its age are the clunkier proportions and new-looking masonry. The entrance module is just a bit too large.
Detail of the arcade here:
1960 addition:
It has vaulting and a masonry exterior like the original building, but it ultimately does not respond well due to its simple, repetitive form and lack of depth.
Let’s pivot to the west side of the church now. Here’s the west side of the tower:
Instead of the semicircular belfry, it has a smaller vaulted window.
I couldn’t get a straight-on shot due to the apartments right behind me, so here’s an angled view of the west facade:
The rounded shaft at left used to be another tower, with a columned cupola that has been removed.
This window is another Tiffany, and it depicts the resurrection of Jesus:
A closer look:
Now this entrance is a weird moment…the doors are off-center, there’s a small window on one side, and the other has a projecting impost block from the curved wall:
This is also part of Packard’s addition, and appears to be part of the auditorium or something similar:
Some interesting details here--long, low arched windows with an interesting muntin pattern, thin ribbon windows on the second floor with almost hypnotic column capitals, and a clerestory on top of the roof not unlike a factory of the era.
What an unusual church. Normally, a hodgepodge of additions such as this one makes the building rather chaotic, but it ironically suits the uneven nature of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture.
Sources:
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71985206
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/23263/rec/13
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/3543/rec/33
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/memory/id/18889/
https://smbhinc.com/broad-street-presbyterian-church-addition-and-renovation/
https://www.ghmchs.org/east-broad-street-presbyterian-church