Lost Omaha V: St. Mary's Congregational Church (27th & St. Mary's Avenue)

27th and St. Mary's Avenue church in 1917, about the time it was acquired by
the Memorial Seventh Day Adventist Church

Driving down the streets of midtown today, it seems almost impossible to sense the ghosts of the old neighborhoods and communities that inhabited the corners where businesses are today.
Sometimes these ghosts still cast a shadow, such as a building that still has echoes of its former glory and purpose even if the beautiful terra-cotta or ginger bread woodwork has long since been stripped off. Others are gone without a trace.

One such structure was St. Mary’s Congregational Church, at 27th and St. Mary’s Avenue, gone without so much as a trace that it was even there.

16th and Farnam Street Congregational Church, c. 1880s

Congregationalism dates back to May 4, 1856 when the first Congregational Church was founded by the Rev. Reuben Gaylord, meeting in the assembly room of the territorial capital building. This was the first protestant church founded in Omaha.

In 1856, a small church was built on 16th Street, just north of where US National Bank stands on Farnam. In 1870, a new church was built at 19th and Chicago. This church became inadequate by 1888, and the congregation moved to 19th and Davenport, in what was considered the most beautiful church in the Midwest.

The second Congregational church incorporated in 1882, originally known as the St. Mary’s Avenue Congregational Church and later as the Central Congregational Church. The congregation built a church at 27th and St. Mary’s Avenue in 1889. (1)

First Central Congregational Church in 1921
at 36th and Harney

In 1916, St. Mary’s Avenue Congregational Church had sold the 27th Street property and began searching for a site for a new church, proposing to build a church costing about $100,000. Owners and agents were asked to submit sites between Dodge and Pacific Streets, “In the west part of the city” from 36th to 40th Street. (2) A lot was selected at 36th and Harney, and the architect was George Prinz who designed a church in the English Gothic style. (3) Work was delayed on the church both for WW1 in 1917 and for the merger of the First and Second Congregational churches in 1918. The new congregation became known as First Central Congregational Church, and continues to meet at 36th and Harney today.

The St. Mary’s Avenue church was purchased by the Seventh Day Adventist church for $18,000 in 1916, and was known as the Memorial Seventh Day Adventist Church. Since the Congregational Church was not yet ready, the two congregations shared facilities for about a year. (4)

Proposed design for Seventh Day Adventist
Church on North 72nd Street in 1963

The Seventh Day Adventist Church was organized on January 25, 1890 and met near the corner of 18th and Cuming. In 1891, they moved to their Mission Church at 21st and Burdette. In 1897, they purchased a church at 25th and Indiana, until they moved to the 27th and St. Mary’s Avenue church in 1917. (5)

In 1963, the Adventists began construction of a new church costing $225,000 at 840 North 72nd Street. A pipe organ from the 27th Street building was to be rebuilt and installed in the new building.
The old church was sold to J.D. Casey, owner of Casey Paint Company, which occupies the lot. (6)

Look at the corner of 27th and St Mary’s Avenue today. Other than the old rowhouses north of the lot, there is no sign that a church – or even a neighborhood – existed on this corner.

Corner of 27th and St. Mary's Avenue today
(courtesy of Google Earth)

(1) October 25, 1925, Omaha World-Herald
(2) November 17, 1925, Omaha World-Herald
(3) September 22, 1918, Omaha World-Herald
      March 4, 1918, Omaha World-Herald,
      October 7, 1916, Omaha World-Herald
(4) October 7, 1916, Omaha World-Herald
(5) June 6, 1954, Omaha World-Herald
(6) January 12, 1963, Omaha World-Herald