City of Tempe, AZ

YEAR BUILT: 1948-53

HISTORY
The First Congregational Church was first built in 1899. However, the church’s congregation was first organized by Reverend Dania Kloss in 1892.

Kloss was a minister and educator that moved from Kansas to Arizona in 1891 at the age of 61. He operated a 160-acre farm along the Tempe Canal and served as the First Congregational Church’s minister from 1892 to 1900. He also served several years on the Territorial Normal School’s board, during which the Main Building (also known as Old Main) was completed. Additionally, he served as director of the Tempe Irrigating Canal Company and president of the Kansas Society, a Valley-wide organization composed of Kansas immigrants.

In 1927, the church was expanded to include a parlor that served as a Sunday school room, kitchen and dining room, and a general gathering place. The original steeple was also removed between 1927 and 1928. A new social hall was built in 1948, named Prior Hall in honor of Reverend Cecil L. Prior, who served the church from 1942 to 1963.

By the 1950s, the church’s congregation had outgrown the original sanctuary, and the building needed major repairs. The existing structure was repaired and stabilized before an expanded sanctuary was added in 1953-1954. Local Tempe architecture Kemper Goodwin designed the expansion to be similar in appearance to the church’s recently constructed education building. At this time, the church’s main entrance was moved from Sixth Street to Myrtle Avenue and the church’s original bell from 1898 was reinstalled.

In total, the cost of building the new sanctuary, new parsonage, and school expansion was estimated at $100,000. In April 1952, the church community held a 10-day fundraiser that raised $50,000 toward the project costs. After 10 days, church members had raised $57,000. They took out a loan for $45,000 from the Congregational Church Building Society to cover the remaining costs.

The new sanctuary was dedicated on April 4, 1954. Important people traveled from across the region to attend the dedication, including Reverand Glenn Rowles, the associate superintendent of the Congregational Church of Southern California and Arizona. The dedication was given by Arizona governor Howard Pyle.

In the 1990s, the church underwent a series of minor modifications that matched the building’s architectural style. At this time an entry to Prior Hall, the church’s social hall, was added on the south side that matched the building’s original design but was unique enough to signify that it wasn’t original.

In 2001, the First Congregational Church was added to the Tempe Historic Property Register.

Fifteen years later, the church was put up for sale, and it held its last service in 2018. The property was bought by a developer along with other parcels in the same area, including the 1903 Harry Walker House site, with the intent of building an apartment tower with retail space at the bottom. In May 2025, Tempe City Council voted to rezone the church property and allow for the non-sanctuary sections of the church to be demolished, overruling an earlier decision by the Historic Preservation Commission.

ARCHITECTURE
The First Congregational Church was originally built in 1898 in the Akron Plan and Colonial Revival styles. This style originated in Akron, Ohio and was popular in the American West from 1870 to about 1925. It is characterized by a series of classrooms connected to a central lecture hall via moveable partitions. This also allowed the classrooms to serve as overflow seating for the main hall.

The original auditorium measured 40 feet by 80 feet and had a capacity of 300 people; the entrance was located on Sixth Street. Originally it had a steeple/tower measuring 50 feet tall but that was removed in 1928 or 1929.

In 1927, a church parlor was added to serve as Sunday school space, a kitchen and dining room, and a general meeting area. At this time, the building’s exterior was also covered in cement plaster, the walls were strengthened, and the cathedral glass windows were installed.

Prior Hall, the church’s social hall, was added to the building in 1948. The new hall made use of the existing walls on the east and west sides. At this time additional classrooms were also built on to the south side of the church, which, at the time, was considered the rear of the church.

In 1953, a new sanctuary was built using new and old brick from the existing building. In addition to the new sanctuary, the entrance was moved from Sixth Street to Myrtle Street. A new steeple was also added, replacing the one removed in the late 1920s, and the original bell from 1889 was restored to the building.

The church went through a series of minor modifications in the 1990s that matched the building’s architectural style. An entrance to Prior Hall was added on the south side that matched the building’s original design but was unique enough to signify that it was not an original feature.

In 2025, when the non-sanctuary additions were demolished, the openings in the sanctuary were repaired to match the rest of the building.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1953 Addition Mortgage. January 11, 1954.

Bamberg, Angelique. “Architecture Around Us: Akron Plan Churches.” Western Pennsylvania History: 1918-2023, Summer 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20250527185258/https://journals.psu.edu/wph/article/view/62950/61950.

Lesser, Sherri. Staff Report to Historic Preservation Commission. November 9, 2000.

“Tempe Congregational Fund Drive Under Way.”  Arizona Republic. April 19, 1952.

“Tempe Dedication Today Of Congregational Church.” Arizona Republic. April 4, 1954.

Reagan, Kevin. “Developers want to build 29-story structure around Tempe landmark.” 12New, May 22, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20250527185942/https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/developers-want-build-29-story-structure-around-tempe-landmark-arizona/75-09b9fc7c-5092-45e7-9900-6773c6e081e4.

Ryden Architects. “Survey Site No T-264.” In City of Tempe Multiple Resource Area Update: Final Report, Volume Two: Inventory Forms. 1997.