St. Mark's Church

This is the church in my hometown. I grew up near there, and it is a pretty big deal. I can see it from my parents' house, which is about 4 miles away. There's an interesting story behind the church.

There was a watch factory that opened in Wichita around the turn of the century that was made from big stone blocks. Business wasn't very good, so the factory closed down, and the people from the town purchased the stone from the factory, and carted it from downtown Wichita to St. Mark's, which is a LONG way, if you're going on a horse drawn wagon, and have to cross a creek. It took them pretty much all day to make a single trip.

I don't remember how long it took them to finish, but suffice it to say it was a long time. The church is close to 100 years old now. I don't know if there's anyone alive who saw it built. It seems pretty amazing to me that it's lasted that long, but probably because we live in a disposable society. Wal Mart's go up and are torn down in under 10 years. Seeing St Mark's Church makes me think of Europe. It seems that buildings there are built to last, and people expect them to.

It would be nice if we had some level of continuity about our architecture. Maybe it's part of what makes America, well, America. That things should be cheap, and functional, rather than enduring, and beautiful. At least architecture anyway. I'll post some pictures of the law school sometime to drive the point home.