The Man Who Designed
St. Bridget Church
 |
George P. Stauduhar
(1863-1928) |
Meet George Stauduhar, the architect of St. Bridget Church. Through the kindness of Chris Adams, a parishioner of St. Joseph Church in Topeka, we have the following article about our architect. Mr. Stauduhar also designed her church, St. Joseph in Topeka. Chris Adams writes:
A lovely structure such as St. Bridget's Church must first begin on the drawing board, but with a nearly century old building often records of the designer are lost or forgotten. Recently though, the architect of this magnificent edifice, a man by the name of George P. Stauduhar, was brought to light.
In 1890, Mr. Stauduhar had established an architectural practice in Rock Island, Illinois that continued until his death on September 23, 1928. He had shown an early aptitude for architectural design that was furthered by his studies at the University of Illinois. He was married and had eight children. The architectural practice eventually involved the entire Stauduhar family.
The sons assisted in business arrangements and supervised on-site construction of work, while the daughters maintained financial records and inventories. The oldest son, Charles operated his own constriction company and was George Stauduhar's principle business partner.
Along with designing St. Bridget's Church, Mr. Stauduhar built in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The churches of Kansas include St. Columbkille at Blaine, St. Patrick's at Kingman, St. Joseph's at Flush, St. Mary's at Pittsburg, Corpus Christi (church and rectory) at Mooney Creek and St. Joseph's at Topeka. Mr. Stauduhar designed a church for St. Michael's in Axtell, but it was deemed too expensive for the small parish and another design by another architect was eventually chosen.
Being resourceful, Mr. Stauduhar employed sub- contractors from an area and used available materials native to a region. But the bulk of the work was donated by parishioners, who by the sweat of their brow and strength of their backs labored in love to produce the huge impressive vaulted ceilings and arches of these beautifully constructed imposing structures.
Stauduhar, with attention to detail, designed over 200 churches along with residences, commercial buildings and even steamboat interiors. Structures ranged in size from large hospitals to small country chapels. Roman Catholic churches in the "Neo-Gothic Revival" style were his specialty. He combined classic European Romanesque and Gothic tradition with American architectural styles popular in the Midwest at the turn of the century. In his residential work, he incorporated his love of the romantic. These homes are known for their mixture of textures and architectural details; including intricate columns, ornate windows, stained and leaded glass, with decorative twisted iron downspouts. Many of these fabulous creations, including St. Bridget's Church, are currently listed on historic registers.
(This information was gleaned from the archives at the University of Illinois that houses architectural and personal papers of Mr. Stauduhar donated by his grandchildren.)
