Home > Kansas > Inman vicinity > Bethel Sanctuary, Inman, McPherson County, KS
B&W Photos
HB479957
Exterior View Of The North Elevation
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HB479958
Exterior View Of The West Elevation
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HB479959
Exterior View Of The East Elevation, Northeast Corner
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HB479960
Exterior View Of The East Elevation, Southeast Corner
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HB479961
Exterior View Of The South Elevation
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Data Pages
Drawings
Photo Caption Pages
Item Title
Location
Inman vicinity, KS
Find maps of Inman, KS
Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1933.
Notes
Survey number HABS KS-66
Unprocessed field note material exists for this structure (N114).
Building/structure dates:
1880 initial construction
0.1993
Significance: The Bethel Sanctuary, built in 1880, is the sole remaining example of the Mennonite "Prayer House" in North America. The structure was constructed by immigrants from the Molotschna Colony in the Ukraine, who settled in the Midwest in 1874. The building's form is a synthesis of the Mennonite experience in Northern Europe. The prototype prayer houses were built in 1768 in the Vistula Delta in North Poland. As the Mennonites moved, they took their architectural heritage along with them. In 1789, the Mennonites settled in South Russia and established communities, which later emigrated to North America. The long rectangular form originated in the Flemish house-barn, where the early Mennonites worshiped. The adobe block construction, called "pautze', is an adaptation of construction methods used in the Vistula Delta. According to historic accounts, the Bethel Sanctuary was built as a community effort in two weeks. The Mennonites used locally available materials such as stone, earth, straw, manure, and lumber brought by railroad. The building originally consisted of one long room, the sanctuary, which conformed to typical free church seating arrangements, and two smaller rooms separated from the sanctuary by an adobe partition. One of these rooms served as a nursery, the other as a meeting room for the elders. Men and women each had a separate entrance to the building. A large, central adobe hearth, since removed, provided warmth. The Bethel Sanctuary was adapted for residential use in 1897. Interior wood-frame partitions were constructed to subdivide the sanctuary. The building was occupied until 1980.
Subjects
Religious ServicesAdobe BuildingsImmigrants
Related Names
Brunner, Kurt A., Field Team
Schmitz, Edward T., Field Team
Janzen, John M., Field Team
Haase-Divine, David W., Delineator
Harrington, Steven W., Delineator
Winslow, Keri J., Delineator
Zabilka, Eric J., Photographer
Zabilka, Eric J., Delineator
Collection
Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)
Contents
Photograph caption(s):
1. EXTERIOR VIEW OF THE NORTH ELEVATION
2. EXTERIOR VIEW OF THE WEST ELEVATION
3. EXTERIOR VIEW OF THE EAST ELEVATION, NORTHEAST CORNER
4. EXTERIOR VIEW OF THE EAST ELEVATION, SOUTHEAST CORNER
5. EXTERIOR VIEW OF THE SOUTH ELEVATION
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