Mendocino Presbyterian Church

Mendocino Presbyterian Church
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
California Historical Landmark No. 714[1]
Mendocino Presbyterian Church
Location	44831 Main Street Mendocino, California
Built	1867-1868
Architect	S. C. Bugbee & Son of San Francisco, architects; Albert Maxwell, contractor
Architectural style	Carpenter Gothic
Part of	Mendocino and Headlands Historic District (ID71000165[2])
CHISL No.	714[1]

The Mendocino Presbyterian Church is a historic Carpenter Gothic-style Presbyterian church building located at 44831 Main Street, in Mendocino, California. Built of coast redwood, it sits on the Mendocino headlands overlooking the Pacific Ocean; its board and batten exterior walls, tall side-entrance bell tower, steep gabled roof and lancet windows are typical of many Carpenter Gothic churches. Its stained glass windows were made by local stained glass artist Leone McNeil Zimmer.^[3]

Mendocino and its headlands with the Presbyterian Church in the upper left

The church is California Historical Landmark No. 714^[1] and is also a contributing property in the Mendocino and Headlands Historic District which was added on July 14, 1971, to the National Register of Historic Places.^[2]

History

The church was designed by architects S. C. Bugbee & Son of San Francisco and was built between 1867 and 1868 at a cost of $10,000 by contractor Albert Maxwell. On July 5, 1868, it was formally dedicated.^[4] It served as the model for the smaller but more elaborate Church of the Good Shepherd, Berkeley that S. C. Bugbee's son Charles L. Bugbee designed in the late 1880s.

In 1947 parts of the movie Johnny Belinda, which starred Jane Wyman and Lew Ayres, were filmed on the premises and the church received enough money to buy a new roof.^[4]

Current status

Today the church is an active congregation in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),^[5] and is one of the oldest continuously used Protestant churches in California.^[6] The Rev. Matthew E. Davis is the current pastor.^[7]

References

1. "Mendocino Presbyterian Church". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
3. MPC Stained Glass, accessed 2011-12-25.
4. Mendocino Presbyterian Church history^{[permanent dead link‍]}.
5. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) listing for Mendocino Presbyterian Church Archived 2004-10-19 at the Library of Congress Web Archives
6. Adams, Rick, and McCorkle, Louise, The California Highway 1 Book, New York: Ballantine Books, 1985, 1st edition, p. 284, ISBN 0-345-31855-2. The oldest continuously-used Protestant church, a Methodist church in Downieville, California, was finished only 12 years earlier, in 1856 [1].
7. Mendocino Presbyterian Church contact us Archived 2009-09-09 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Mendocino Presbyterian Church website
• One of many photos on flickr: Mendocino Presbyterian Church (at sunrise)
• Another flickr photo

39.3049°N 123.7967°W / 39.3049; -123.7967