This photo shows the southwest corner of 10th and Washington (where the Welcome Center now stands). The closer building was a blacksmith's shop. The one behind it puzzled me...was it a mausoleum?
It took some research, but I finally figured out that it was a Nazarene church. Old Transcript articles informed me that it was built on that location in 1924.
In 1940, it was extensively remodeled. The vestibule was enlarged and a tall front facade was added. The style was intended to be “Spanish-Colonial and Moorish.” It was inspired by a church the pastor had seen in the Holy Land. The church was enlarged again in 1949. By 1951, the blacksmith shop had been replaced by a Frontier gas station. In September of 1959, the station was ready to expand and bought the Nazarene church property.
The congregation moved quickly in building their replacement church. They acquired property at 17455 W. 16th Avenue (map), broke ground in October of 1959, and held their first services in the new church in January, 1960.
