47. St. Louis RC Church
780 Main Street
 On May 29, 1886 the congregation placed the cornerstone of the current church building. Three years later, they dedicated their $265,000 house of worship. Designed in the Gothic style common to Europe in the 14th Century, the building's245 foot tower resembles that of the Cathedral of Cologne, Germany. The Seth Thomas clock, a gift of Judge Elbridge Spaulding is a memorial to the two firemen killed in the tower of the former church during the fire of 1885. One man leapt from the tower to avoid being burned while the other fell into the ruins of the church from it. The clock is said to be in the approximate position of the original one.
The building, constructed on the cruciform plan, seats 1,900 people. The High Altar, a gift of Miss Emma Lang, was designed by Schikel & Ditmars, the architects of the church. The Lautz Marble Works carved the 35 foot high, 24 foot wide altar. Constructed at a cost of $15,000, it features a life size statue of St. Louis, the patron of the church, who died during the Crusades in 1270. The statue is contained in a niche over which is a reproduction of the belfry spire. The seven long windows of the apse were made by the Royal Munich Art Institute in Germany. Those of the nave were made by Reister & Frohe of Buffalo.
The Kimbal organ in the rear of the church was originally used in the Temple of Music during the Pan American Exposition in 1901. Rev. Paul Hoelscher acquired it for the church in 1903.
Text and photo courtesy of Chuck LaChiusa.
Credits
Scripts: Denise Prince and Jane Kwiatkowski
Voice: Christopher Jamele of Jamele Freelance Services
Audio production: John Davis of Eclectic Electric
This project was made possible in part with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts.
Tour content courtesy of Buffalo Tours.
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