St. Luke's Methodist Church (Monticello, Iowa)

St. Luke's Methodist Church is a Late Gothic Revival church in Monticello, Iowa whose church building was completed in 1950. It is now the Monticello Heritage and Cultural Center. It is the only church in Iowa designed by nationally prominent architects Cram & Ferguson, who specialized in ecclesiastical architecture. The church congregation sought high design quality and, as recorded in the NRHP nomination for the church, the local newspaper reported in 1949 thatIt was felt that the church building could never be better than its design so an effort was made to secure the ablest architects available and the world famous firm of Cram & Ferguson of Boston were selected. This firm was the designers of the Great Episcopal Cathedrals in New York (Cathedral of St. John the Divine) and Detroit (Cathedral Church of St. Paul), St. Thomas Church and Christ Methodist in New York, Calgary Church in Pittsburgh, the House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, the famous Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago and hundreds of other churches throughout the eastern part of the nation. This is, however, their first church in Iowa. (Monticello Express 1949 "Drawing of the New Methodist Church") How the building committee of St. Luke's Church got connected to the Boston architectural firm is not known, but may have been through Rev. Dr. Daniel L. Marsh (1880-1968). Marsh, president of Methodis

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