Nevin & Morgan Architects, Second Presbyterian Church Architectural Drawings, 1956-1978

Held by The Filson Historical Society

Creator:  Nevin & Morgan, Architects

Title:  Second Presbyterian Church architectural drawings, 1956-1978

Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.

Size of Collection:  3 rolls & 1 ovsz. fld.

Location Number:  Mss. AR N526

Historical Note

Second Presbyterian Church is the second-oldest continuously active Presbyterian congregation in Jefferson County.  It has been situated in four different locations, three of them in downtown Louisville.  It is now (as of 2021) situated at 3701 Old Brownsboro Road.

The church was organized on April 17, 1830, when twelve members of Louisville’s First Presbyterian Church withdrew to organize the Second Presbyterian Church.  Dr. Eli Sawtell was the first pastor.  The church membership grew to fifteen hundred after Dr. Stuart Robinson became its minister in 1858.

As the suburban population grew in the 1950s, Second Presbyterian Church built a chapel on Old Brownsboro Road, in the Rolling Fields subdivision to serve that area.  When a fire in February 1956 destroyed the downtown facility, all activities were moved to the Rolling Field Chapel and it became the church’s new location.  In the following years, the Brownsboro campus underwent a series of expansions, including the addition of a new 660-seat sanctuary in 1980.

References:

Kleber, John E., ed. The Encyclopedia of Louisville. (University Press of Kentucky: 2001)

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains architectural drawings and renderings created for Second Presbyterian Church, specifically related to the expansion of its Rolling Fields Chapel at 3701 Old Brownsboro Road.  Drawings by two architecture firms are included: Nevin & Morgan of Louisville and Harold E. Wagoner & Associates of Philadelphia.

Rolls 1 & 2 are plans for an “Addition to Second Presbyterian Church,” 1956-57, by Nevin & Morgan Architects.  These drawings relate to the expansion of the Rolling Field Chapel on Brownsboro Road to serve as the church’s primary facility, following a fire that destroyed its old downtown headquarters.  Included are floor plans for the sanctuary and fellowship hall, a plot plan, and building sketches and elevations.

Roll 3 are drawings from a project from 1976-78 by Harold E. Wagoner & Associates.  Includes floor plans of the main, ground and first floors, as well as tower framing plans.

Folder 4 contains two undated renderings of Second Presbyterian Church by Harold E. Wagoner and Associates Architects, of Philadelphia, Penn.  One rendering is of the new sanctuary and ancillary spaces.  These may be related to the 1980 building expansion.

Folder List

Rolls 1-2: “Addition to Second Presbyterian Church” by Nevin & Morgan, 1956-57

Roll 3: Floor plans & tower framing plan by Harold E. Wagoner & Associates, 1976-1978

Folder 4 (ovsz.): Renderings of Second Presbyterian by Harold E. Wagoner & Associates, undated