Nebraska’s Capitol was designed to be a symbol of the state. Capitol architect Bertram Goodhue’s design was inspired by his travels across Nebraska at the turn of the last century. Traveling through the broad flat landscape of Nebraska by train, Goodhue would have seen a flat horizon broken only by grain elevators, church steeples and water towers. The Capitol’s broad flat base represents the open expanse of the prairie and the tower rises with Nebraskans’ hopes and dreams of building a better world. Traveling across the state today, man-made landmarks still guide citizens to their communities. It is interesting that Nebraska’s man-made landscape influenced the tower concept for Nebraska’s Capitol and the Capitol in turn influenced the man-made landscape of one Nebraska community. The Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Shelby, Nebraska was constructed in 1930 and the carillon tower is reminiscent of the Capitol’s tower.
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Father John Rooney, Pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, reports the parish in Shelby dates from 1895 when the first Mass was celebrated in the home of John Krumbach. Prior to the construction of the first church in 1898, Mass was celebrated in private homes and in the Shelby Town Hall. The parish grew and in 1917 a second structure was built. By 1929 the parish had outgrown that building and raised funds for a third structure designed by Lohr and Carl Stengel, Omaha architects. Their design included a 90 foot bell tower inspired by the Nebraska State Capitol. Goodhue’s competition winning design was widely published, but the final tower design was simplified upon construction. It appears the Omaha architects based the Shelby tower design on the competition drawing because the Capitol’s tower was not completed at that time. The church was dedicated by Bishop Louis Kucera on December 3, 1930, two years before the Nebraska Capitol was completed, giving parishioners and town residents a preview of things to come in Lincoln. As you travel through and across Nebraska, plan a stop along Nebraska Highway 92 in Shelby to see this 1930 architectural tribute to the ‘new’ Capitol as it was being built.[RoyalSlider Error] No post attachments found.
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Above is a detail from a souviner glass plate image of the competition design of the Nebraska State Capitol held in the Capitol’s Archive. The tower detail of the Sacred Heart Church in Shelby shows how the church architects referenced the competition design’s octagonal Memorial Chamber with its grand arched windows.[RoyalSlider Error] No post attachments found.
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Above, the Sacred Heart Church contains simplified elements of the Capitol’s tower. The Capitol tower’s vertical ribbon windows became design elements in the brick church tower facade.[RoyalSlider Error] No post attachments found.