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Pullman Memorial Universalist Church


The Pullman Memorial Universalist Church of Albion, New York was constructed in 1894 (dedicated 1895) as a memorial to the parents of inventor and industrialist George Mortimer Pullman. The structure, built of pink Medina sandstone and featuring fifty-six Tiffany stained glass windows and a Johnson pipe organ, is in the Orleans County Courthouse National Historic District. The building has been in constant use since its opening; the congregation affiliating with the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1961 but keeping its historic name.

The building was designed by Solon S. Beman in the syle of Old English Gothic with Richardsonian Romanesque features. Its long, low horizontal profile outside and its arrangement and general layout inside anticipate modern architectural trends several decades later.Beman found rough hewn locally quarried Medina pink sandstone complimentary to the simple forms and heavy proportions of the Richardsonian style. The result is a compact, centralized building with a tower reminiscent of that over the crossing of Richardson's Trinity Church (1872) in Boston. Beman's use of unpolished stone pierced by unmolded windows that reveal the thickness of the fabric, added to the overall composition of distinct units unified by strong horizontality and subordination to the crossing tower conform to Richardsonian tradition. The main entrance is made of a series of stone moldings, with oak plank doors and decorative wrought iron hinges. Like many Richardson churches, exterior massiveness and sobriety give way to spaciousness and color on the interior.

The interior dimensions and curved ceilings are those of a chapel, yet the church can seat 400 (700 with the wide East-side doors opened to the parlor). Inside the main entrance door are bronze bas relief medallions (plaques) designed by sculptor Carl Rohl-Smith – one of Emily Caroline Pullman, the other of James Lewis Pullman. Most of the woodwork and cabinetry are of quarter-sawn golden oak in a dark stain. The church sanctuary contains forty-one stained glass windows by Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company of New York. The three windows facing west in the west transept are made of high quality hand-rolled glass. The large window depicts the resurrection of Jesus Christ and is signed by Tiffany. In the crossing directly above the pulpit is a ceiling stenciled with blue and gold designs on canvas from which hangs a 45-branch electrolier. The church houses a pipe organ with stenciled gold leaf pipes. To the east, off the sanctuary, are the church parlors, class rooms, kitchen and dining room.


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