Calvary Presbyterian Church raises two contrasting Victorian Gothic towers, painted bright red, over the Marquette University district of downtown Milwaukee. Listen for the story the stone and brick tell: the first Presbyterian congregation here began with Reverend Cutting Marsh in 1837, North Presbyterian split off in 1849, and in 1869 west-side Presbyterians formed Calvary with officers John Plankinton, James B. Bradford, and Samuel C. West. They built this grand church in 1870, designed by Milwaukee architects Henry C. Koch and Julius Hess in Gothic Revival style.
Feel the solidity of its ashlar limestone foundation and the warm, pale hue of cream city brick—kilned from local clay—set off by accents of Ohio sandstone. Note that the exterior has since been painted a bright red color. The ridge of the nave rises 85 feet high; on one side a 105-foot tower carries a spire clad in pressed metal, while on the other a huge 202-foot tower wears a slate-clad spire, both towers buttressed.
Calvary has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986. Notice the two contrasting towers and the bright red walls that mark this Gothic Revival church today.