Monastery at Large

Category: Miami

  • Postcards from the South: Central Baptist Church, Miami

    Postcard view of Central Baptist Church, Miami
    Postcard view of Central Baptist Church, Miami

    There are certain places I have no interest in visiting. Like zero, zilch, none.

    Miami tops that list.

    Only a few buildings in Miami even mildly pique my curiosity, and this is one: the former Central Baptist Church, designed by Dougherty & Gardner of Nashville.1 2

    Location of Central Baptist Church, Miami

    Edward E. Dougherty was an Atlanta native who became the first architect in the city to complete training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.3

    Dougherty began working with Thomas W. Gardner in Nashville in 1915,4 5 6 and within a few years, they were touted as “the foremost church architects in the South,”7 completing over 50 church buildings by 1926.8

    It appears that Gardner, not Dougherty, was the primary designer of Miami’s Central Baptist,9 and I don’t consider it one of his better efforts. The exterior looks more like a government building, and the interior, as shown in the postcard below, is quite gaudy.

    Postcard view of the sanctuary of Central Baptist Church, Miami
    Postcard view of the sanctuary of Central Baptist Church, Miami

    The Beaux-Arts-style structure was originally designed as the First Baptist Church and was completed in 1928.10 11

    Eight years later, Central Baptist Church was formed by merging First Baptist and Temple Baptist, and the combined congregation used the building12 13 until 2007, when it then merged with Christ Fellowship Church, which now owns the property.14

    References

    1. “Contract Is Awarded”. The Miami Herald, April 28, 1926, p. 2. ↩︎
    2. “Architects For Church Chosen”. The Miami News, April 28, 1926, p. 23. ↩︎
    3. “To Enter Business Here.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 18, 1905, p. 3. ↩︎
    4. “Busy Week Had At Builders’ Exchange”. The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee), July 17, 1915, p. 10. ↩︎
    5. “Builders’ Exchange Weekly Bulletin”. Nashville Banner (Nashville, Tennessee), August 9, 1915, p. 6. ↩︎
    6. “Work Will Begin Soon On 5-Story Office Building”. Nashville Tennessean and The Nashville American, September 11, 1915, p. 3. ↩︎
    7. “Extensive Improvements Are Planned by Central Baptist Church.” The Newnan Herald (Newnan, Georgia), July 20, 1923, p. 7. ↩︎
    8. “Contract Is Awarded”. The Miami Herald, April 28, 1926, p. 2. ↩︎
    9. “Confer on Church”. The Miami Herald, May 2, 1926, p. 3. ↩︎
    10. “6,500 Attend First Baptist Rites”. The Miami Herald, February 13, 1928, p. 1. ↩︎
    11. “First Baptist $800,000 Home To Open Today”. The Miami News, February 12, 1928, p. 14. ↩︎
    12. “Arrangements Made to Organize Church”. The Miami Herald, April 30, 1936, p. 5. ↩︎
    13. “1100 Baptists Join New Miami Church”. The Miami Herald, May 4, 1936, p. 3. ↩︎
    14. CF Updates | Christ Fellowship Celebrates Grand Opening Of Their Historic Downtown Campus ↩︎