Lawrence B. Valk

Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924) was a prominent Protestant church architect and theorist. He practiced under his own name and with his son Arthur, under the firm L. B. Valk & Son. Valk was based in Brooklyn and New York from 1859 to the early 1890s, but was very active throughout the United States. Around 1890, the firm moved to California, where it continued to be active through 1924.

For further information, see Catherine W. Bisher, "L. B. Valk & Son", North Carolina Architects & Builders: A Biographical Dictionary, http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000603 (accessed January 2, 2018).

Buildings by L. B Valk (*denotes buildings by L. B. Valk & Son):

  1. St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Waterton, Wisc. (1859, enlarged 1890).1, 2 
  2. St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Bristol, R.I. (1859-1861; Valk & Saeltzer).3
  3. New Tabernacle Church, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1859)4
  4. St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Tivoli, N.Y. (1868-1869).5
  5. Six second-class frame dwellings for Wm. D. Morgan, West 107th Street, New York, N.Y. (1869)6
  6. Three 3-story brick dwellings, East 114th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues, New York, N.Y. (1870)7
  7. Carriage Warehouse, 141-143 East 25th Street, New York, N.Y. (1870)8
  8. Church of the Disciples, New York, N.Y. (1872-1873)9
  9. First Baptist Church, Pierrepont Street, corner of Clinton Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1877)10
  10. Second Presbyterian Church, Paterson, N.J. (1877 - demolished).11
  11. Perrysburgh Congregational Church, Perrysburgh, Ohio. (1878 - demolished?).12
  12. First Presbyterian Church, Perrysburgh, Ohio. (1878 - demolished).13
  13. First Baptist Church, Bennington, Vt. (ca. 1878).14
  14. Sixth Avenue Baptist Church, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1880)15
  15. St. Peter's German Church, Union Avenue and Scholes Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1880)16
  16. Union Avenue Baptist Church, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1880 - demolished)17
  17. Congregational Church, Sherburne, N.Y. (1881)18
  18. North Baptist Church, West 11th Street, New York (1881)19
  19. Harlem Congregational Church (Pilgrim Congregational Church), Madison Avenue and East 121st Street, New York, N.Y. (1882 - demolished)20, 21 
  20. Congregation Church, Groton, N.Y. (1883)22
  21. Union Presbyterian Church, Fort Madison, Iowa. (1884-1885)23
  22. Mt. Vernon Methodist Church, Vestry and Sunday School, Mt. Vernon, N.Y. (1884)24
  23. Dwelling and stable for John C. Richards, St. Mark's Avenue, 250' east of Nostrand Avenue. (1884)25
  24. Central Baptist Church, Adelphi Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1885)26
  25. Westminster Presbyterian Church, Magnolia and Summit Avenues, Jersey City, N.J. (1885)27
  26. Centennial Baptist Church, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1885)28
  27. First Presbyterian Church, Fling, Mich. (1885)29
  28. St. Mark's Church and Sunday School, Adelphi Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1885)30
  29. Berkley Avenue Baptist Church, Norfolk, Va. (1885-1889).31
  30. Ocean Hill Reform Church, Hopkinson Avenue, corner of Herkimer Street. (1886)32
  31. (*) Needham Congregational Church, Needham, Mass. Frame church and vestry. (1886)33
  32. Christ Church Cathedral, New Orleans, La. (1886)34
  33. Universalist Church, Reading, Penn.(1886)35
  34. Methodist Episcopal Society Church, Birmingham, Ala. (1886)36
  35. New Methodist Episcopal Church of Tremont, West 178th Street and Washington Avenue, New York, N.Y. (1886)37
  36. House for Charles M. Peed (former Lillian Ward House), Seventh Avenue and Sterling Place, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1887)38, 39 
  37. Fifth Congregational Church, St. Louis, Mo. (1887)40
  38. (*) 5 dwellings, Sterling Place and Seventh Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1887)41
  39. (*) Presbyterian Church, Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, Ill. (1887)42
  40. First Baptist Church, Greeensboro, S.C. (1887)43
  41. South Norwalk Congregational Church, South Norwalk, Conn. (1887)44
  42. (*) Reid Avenue church, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1888)45
  43. (*) Third Methodist Episcopal Church, New Haven, Conn. (1888)46
  44. First Presbyterian Church, Hastings, Neb. (1888 - burned down in 1910).47
  45. Methodist Episcopal Church, Salem, Mass. (1889)48
  46. (*) St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Red Hook, N.Y. (1889).49
  47. (*) St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Watertown, N.Y. (1859; enlarged by Valk in 1890).50
  48. (*) First Presbyterian Church, Greensboro, S.C. (1890-1892)51
  49. (*) First Baptist Church, Colorado Springs, Co. (1891)52
  50. (*) First Presbyterian Church, Paris, Tx. (1891)53
  51. (*) Old First Baptist Church, Jackson, Miss. (1891-1895)54
  52. Parish House, New Utrecht Reformed Church, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1892).55
  53. (*) Swedish Pilgrim Congregational Church, Atlantic Avenue near Bond Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1893)56, 57
  54. (*) St. Andrew's Episcopal Church Chapel, 4917 Fourth Avenue and 50th Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1894)58, 59 
  55. (*) St. Matthew Lutheran Church (German), Sixth Avenue and 2nd Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1895)60, 61 
  56. (*) Babylon Methodist Church, Baylon, N.Y. (1895)62
  57. (*) Windsor Terrace Baptist Mission, Greenwood Avenue, corner of 7th Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1895)63
  58. (*) St. Ann's Church for Deaf Mutes, West 148th Street, New York, N.Y. (1896)64
  59. First Presbyterian Church, Weatherford, Tx. (1896 - demolished).65
  60. (*) Hanson Place Baptist Church, corner of Hanson Place and South Portland Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. (L.B. Valk & Son and Ward & Cranford are competing, 1899)66
  61. (*)Middlebury United Methodist Church, Middlebury, Vt. (ca. 1900).67
  62. (*) Ninth Street Christian Church, Washington, D.C. (ca. 1900)68
  63. (*) (Old) First Presbyterian Church, Quincy, Mass. (ca. 1900 - demolished)69
  64. (*) First Reformed Church, Passaic, N.J. (ca. 1900).70, 71 
  65. (*) F.J. Lauerman House, Marinette, Wisc. (1901)72
  66. Presbyterian Church, Water Valley, Miss. (1901).73
  67. (*) (Old) First Baptist Church, Davison, Mich. (1902 - conjectured?)74
  68. Mrs. Helen Borden House, Alhambra, Calif. (1902).75, 76 
  69. House for Mr. May, Pasadena, Calif. (1910).77
  70. (*) First Presbyterian Church, Eckert, Colo. (1915-1921)78
  71. (*) Presbyterian Church, San Angelo, TX (1915-1920).79, 80 
  72. (*) Congregational Church of Patchogue, Patchogue, N.Y. (Unknown)81
  73. Talmadge's Tabernacle, Brooklyn, N.Y. "The pioneer church in the new form." (Unknown)82
  74. Tompkins Avenue Congregational Church, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Unknown)83
  75. South Hadley Congregational Church, South Hadley, Mass. (Unknown)84
  76. Congregational Church, Owego, N.Y. (Unknown)85
  77. Tabernacle Baptist, Albany, N.Y. (Unknown)86
  78. Presbyterian Church, Fredonia, N.Y. (Unknown)87
  79. Presbyterian Church, Canton, N.Y. (Unknown)88
  80. Presbyterian Church, Troy, Penn. (Unknown)89
  81. Presbyterian Church, Avon, N.Y. (Unknown)90
  82. First Congregational Church, Oaklan, Calif. (Unknown)91
  83. Calvary Presbyterian Church, Peoria, Ill. (Unknown)92
  84. First Presbyterian Church, Bay City, Mich. (Unknown - not built?). 93
  85. Park Avenue Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Penn. (Unknown). 94
  86. First Baptist Church, Lancaster, S.C. (Unknown - not built).95

Note: listings from the Real Estate Record may include unbuilt projects.

  • 1Architects of Colorado, Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society, http://legacy.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 2Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 3.
  • 3Architects of Colorado, Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society, http://legacy.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 4Architects of Colorado, Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society, http://legacy.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 5Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 2.
  • 6Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 3, no. 54: March 27, 1869, 13.
  • 7Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 4, no. 98: January 29, 1870, 8.
  • 8Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 4, no. 101: February 19, 1870, 8.
  • 9Advertisement for Lawrence B. Valk, Architect, The Congregational Year-Book, Boston: Congregational Publishing Society (1879), 23.
  • 10Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 20, no. 488: July 21, 1877, 588
  • 11Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 2.
  • 12Architects of Colorado, Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society, http://legacy.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 13Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 1; pictured in American Architect and Building News, May 25, 1878.
  • 14Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 3; pictured in American Architects and Building News, May 25, 1878.
  • 15Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 25, no. 628: March 27, 1880, 303.
  • 16Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 25, no. 635: May 15, 1880, 478.
  • 17Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 26, no. 644: July 17, 1880, 663.
  • 18Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 27, no. 682: April 9, 1881, 333
  • 19Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 27, no. 682: April 9, 1881, 333.
  • 20Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 29, no. 744: June 17, 1882, 611.
  • 21Cawthon refers to this church as Pilgrim Congregational, later Christ the Savior Congregational Church).
  • 22Architects of Colorado, Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society, http://legacy.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 23Architects of Colorado, Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society, http://legacy.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 24Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 34, no. 855: August 2, 1884, 814.
  • 25Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 33, no. 842: May 3, 1884, 490.
  • 26Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 35, no. 888: March 21, 1885, 300
  • 27Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 35, no. 891: April 11, 1885, 396.
  • 28Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 35, no. 894: May 2, 1885, 513.
  • 29Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 1.
  • 30Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 35, no. 895: May 9, 1885, 552.
  • 31Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 3.
  • 32Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 38, no. 964: September 4, 1886, 1115.
  • 33Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 38, no. 976: November 27, 1886, 1457.
  • 34Architects of Colorado, Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society, http://legacy.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 35Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 38, no. 976: November 27, 1886, 1458.
  • 36Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 38, no. 962: August 21, 1886, 1056.
  • 37Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide,v. 37, no. 950: May 29, 1886, 732.
  • 38Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 40, no. 1009: July 16, 1887, 974.
  • 39Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 3.
  • 40Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 39, no. 1002: May 28, 1887, 738.
  • 41Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, 39, no. 1002: May 28, 1887, 737.
  • 42Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, 39, no. 1002: May 28, 1887, 737.
  • 43North Carolina Architects & Builders: A Biographical Dictionary, http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000603. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 44Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide,  v. 39, no. 1005: June 18, 1887, 838.
  • 45Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 42, no. 1073: October 6, 1888, 1195.
  • 46Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 42, no. 1073: October 6, 1888, 1195.
  • 47Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 1.
  • 48"Methodist Episcopal Church, Salem, MA", Building the Social Gospel, https://buildingthesocialgospel.com/2017/06/13/methodist-episcopal-chur…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 49Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 2.
  • 50Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 2.
  • 51North Carolina Architects & Builders: A Biographical Dictionary, http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000603. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 52Architects of Colorado, Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society, http://legacy.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 53Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 3.
  • 54Architects of Colorado, Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society, http://legacy.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 55Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 3.
  • 56Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 51, no. 1305: March 18, 1893, 410.
  • 57Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 51, no. 1310: April 22, 1893, 648
  • 58Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 53, no. 1365: May 12, 1894, 779
  • 59Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 53, no. 1361: April 14, 1894, 606.
  • 60Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 55, no. 1419: May 25, 1895, 906.
  • 61Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 56, no. 1426: July 13, 1895, 62.
  • 62Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 55, no. 1419: May 25, 1895, 898.
  • 63Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v.56, no. 1433: August 31, 1895, 296.
  • 64Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 57, no. 1453: January 18, 1896, 93.
  • 65Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 3.
  • 66Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 64, no. 1657: December 16, 1899, 931
  • 67Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 3.
  • 68Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 1. According to Cawthon, "floor plans and and photographs of this church, credited to L. B. Valk & Son, are included in F.E. Kidder, Churches and Chapels (New York: William T. Comstock, 1900), plates XLIII and XLIV. There is also a plan of this church in a scrapbook of miscellaneous clippings about churches and libraries, from The Architectural Record, 1913-1918."
  • 69Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 1. According to Cawthon, "A floor plan of this church, credited to L. B. Valk & Son, is included in F.E. Kidder, Churches and Chapels (New York: William T. Comstock, 1900), plate XX. There is also a plan of this church in a scrapbook of miscellaneous clippings about churches and libraries, from The Architectural Record, 1913-1918."
  • 70Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 1.
  • 71F. E. Kidder, Churches and Chapels (New York: William T. Comstock, 1900), Plate XXIX.
  • 72Architects of Colorado, Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society, http://legacy.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 73Architects' & Builders' Magazine, v. II (October 1900 to September 1901), 140-143.
  • 74Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 1.
  • 75Pacific Coast Architectural Database (http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/13496/). Accessed January 7, 2018.
  • 76"Patio: In Residence of Mrs. Helen Borden...", Western Architect, vol. X, no. 9 (September, 1907), [60, 61].
  • 77"House for Mr. May...", Architect & Engineer of California, v. XIX, no. 3 (January, 1910), 60.
  • 78Architects of Colorado, Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society, http://legacy.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 79"Learning from Las Vegas", Building the Social Gospel, https://buildingthesocialgospel.com/2017/06/14/learning-from-las-vegas/. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 80Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 3.
  • 81Architects of Colorado, Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society, http://legacy.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides…. Accessed January 4, 2018.
  • 82Advertisement for Lawrence B. Valk, Architect, The Congregational Year-Book, Boston: Congregational Publishing Society (1879), 23.
  • 83Advertisement for Lawrence B. Valk, Architect, The Congregational Year-Book, Boston: Congregational Publishing Society (1879), 23.
  • 84Advertisement for Lawrence B. Valk, Architect, The Congregational Year-Book, Boston: Congregational Publishing Society (1879), 23.
  • 85Advertisement for Lawrence B. Valk, Architect, The Congregational Year-Book, Boston: Congregational Publishing Society (1879), 23.
  • 86Advertisement for Lawrence B. Valk, Architect, The Congregational Year-Book, Boston: Congregational Publishing Society (1879), 23.
  • 87Advertisement for Lawrence B. Valk, Architect, The Congregational Year-Book, Boston: Congregational Publishing Society (1879), 23.
  • 88Advertisement for Lawrence B. Valk, Architect, The Congregational Year-Book, Boston: Congregational Publishing Society (1879), 23.
  • 89Advertisement for Lawrence B. Valk, Architect, The Congregational Year-Book, Boston: Congregational Publishing Society (1879), 23.
  • 90Advertisement for Lawrence B. Valk, Architect, The Congregational Year-Book, Boston: Congregational Publishing Society (1879), 23.
  • 91Advertisement for Lawrence B. Valk, Architect, The Congregational Year-Book, Boston: Congregational Publishing Society (1879), 23.
  • 92Advertisement for Lawrence B. Valk, Architect, The Congregational Year-Book, Boston: Congregational Publishing Society (1879), 23.
  • 93Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 1.
  • 94Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 3.
  • 95Richard Cawthon, “Some Churches and Other Buildings Designed by Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924)” (unpublished, 2011), 3.

Links

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Brooklyn [Montrose Morris, BOTD]
St. Matthew Ev. English Lutheran Church, Brooklyn [Montrose Morris, BOTD]
Yorkton

Entries