Westminster Castle

	Westminster University
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Colorado State Register of Historic Properties
	The Stanford White-designed Westminster Castle around 1908
Location	3455 W. 83rd Ave; Westminster, Colorado
Coordinates	39°50′50.28″N 105°1′53.19″W / 39.8473000°N 105.0314417°WCoordinates: 39°50′50.28″N 105°1′53.19″W / 39.8473000°N 105.0314417°W
Built	1892
Architect	E.B. Gregory and Stanford B. White
Architectural style	Richardsonian Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	79000572
CSRHP No.	5AM.67
Added to NRHP	August 10, 1979

The Westminster Castle, also locally known as "The Pillar of Fire" is a historic landmark located in Westminster, Colorado, northwest of Denver near the intersection of 83rd and Federal. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Westminster University.

Conception to construction[]

Westminster University was first conceptualized in 1890 by New Yorker Henry T. Mayham who convinced the Denver Presbytery to build a Presbyterian University on land that he owned on Crown Point, the highest point in what was then Arapaho County.^[2]

Westminster Castle, 2008

Architect E.B. Gregory designed and laid the cornerstone for the university's main building, which was to be constructed of gray stone from the Coal Creek area. After delays in construction caused by lack of funds, Mayham hired New York architect Stanford White to finish the design and oversee construction. White changed a main design element, the stone, to a red sandstone from the Red Rocks/Manitou area. White's design was completed by 1893: 160 ft frontage, 80 ft depth, three stories tall, with a distinctive 175 ft tall tower. The building's architectural style is an excellent example of Richardsonian Romanesque.

The Princeton of the West[]

Although the construction was completed in 1893, the doors of Westminster University did not open until September 17, 1908 due to the Panic of 1893 and competition from a nearby Presbyterian college. Mayham's persistent fund-raising paid off when the first 60 students began classes in 1908. Tuition was $50 per year and included indoor plumbing.

In 1911, the small farming community around the university, then known as Harris, voted to incorporate as a city. At that time, Harris decided to change its name to Westminster in honor of the university. The school continued in operation until 1917 when enrollment numbers dropped completely due to World War I.^[3]

Pillar of Fire[]

At its peak, the Crown Point property was worth nearly a half a million dollars. But after the devastating closure and three-year abandonment it was purchased by Bishop Alma Bridwell White of the White nationalist Pillar of Fire Church for $40,000 on January 31, 1920. Included in the sale was the main college building, 45 acres (180,000 m²) of land, a power plant, and two houses (one a student's dormitory, the other the President's house.)

The sale was a good deal, but the state of the buildings left the church with $75,000 worth of repairs. Shattered windows, cracked walls, and broken plaster were the main structural complaints, but the once regal building had also become a glorified barn with thousands of chickens in the basement and farm machinery on the first floor.

In spite of the enormity of the work, the new Westminster University opened to students on September 7, 1920, just eight months after the purchase. Within six years of opening, the school, now known as Belleview Schools, had received its educational accreditation and was ready for decades of education.

In the late 1920s the campus was frequently used for Ku Klux Klan meetings and cross burnings.^[4] But in 1997, the Pillar of Fire Church, the school's owner and parent organization, repudiated its historical association with the Klan.^[5]

Today[]

Belleview Christian Schools still reside on the Westminster University campus which is home to Belleview Christian Childcare & PreSchool (ages 1–4) and (K–12). Although most of the teaching happens in newer buildings on the campus, classes continue in the historic main building which was entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The building is also the home of KPOF AM91 Radio, Colorado's first station to broadcast in HD Radio.

References[]

^ "National Register of Historic Places - NPS Focus". National Park Service. 2010-01-21.
^ "The Princeton of the West".
^ "The Princeton of the West".
^ Wagner, Albin. "Westminster University Princeton of the West" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-11-21. The church established a junior college and bible seminary there, which after 1925 was called Belleview College. The campus of the school was frequently used for meetings of the Ku Klux Klan during its hey-day in Denver, and residents recall burning crosses high on the hill.
^ Parsons, Monique (April 24, 1997). "Zarephath repents its past". Home News Tribune. We regret, repudiate and repent, and ask for full forgiveness for anything in our past that is short of Christian standards based on God's Word, following Jesus' model prayer that teaches us to ever pray and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. (Luke 11:4) We specifically regret mistakes and bad judgement by previous generations or anyone in our membership of the past.

External links[]

[nrhp-1] "National Register of Historic Places - NPS Focus". National Park Service. 2010-01-21.

[2] "The Princeton of the West".

[3] "The Princeton of the West".

[4] Wagner, Albin. "Westminster University Princeton of the West" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-11-21. The church established a junior college and bible seminary there, which after 1925 was called Belleview College. The campus of the school was frequently used for meetings of the Ku Klux Klan during its hey-day in Denver, and residents recall burning crosses high on the hill.

[5] Parsons, Monique (April 24, 1997). "Zarephath repents its past". Home News Tribune. We regret, repudiate and repent, and ask for full forgiveness for anything in our past that is short of Christian standards based on God's Word, following Jesus' model prayer that teaches us to ever pray and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. (Luke 11:4) We specifically regret mistakes and bad judgement by previous generations or anyone in our membership of the past.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

show v t State of Colorado
Denver (capital)
Topics	Bibliography Index Outline Colleges Coloradans Elections Federal lands Geography Government Highways Historic places History Images Indian reservations Law Military Mountains Municipalities Museums National Forests National Parks Paleontology Prehistoric sites Prehistory Protected areas Railroads Rivers Scenic & Historic Byways Slavery Symbols Timeline Tourist attractions Trails Transportation Wildernesses
Society	Crime Culture Demographics Economy Education Politics Religion Sports
Cities	Alamosa Arvada Aspen Aurora Black Hawk Boulder Brighton Broomfield Brush Burlington Cañon City Castle Pines Centennial Central City Cherry Hills Village Colorado Springs Commerce City Cortez Craig Cripple Creek Dacono Delta Denver Durango Edgewater Englewood Evans Federal Heights Florence Fort Collins Fort Lupton Fort Morgan Fountain Fruita Glendale Glenwood Springs Golden Grand Junction Greeley Greenwood Village Gunnison Holyoke Idaho Springs La Junta Lafayette Lakewood Lamar Las Animas Leadville Littleton Lone Tree Longmont Louisville Loveland Manitou Springs Monte Vista Montrose Northglenn Ouray Pueblo Rifle Rocky Ford Salida Sheridan Steamboat Springs Sterling Thornton Trinidad Victor Walsenburg Westminster Wheat Ridge Woodland Park Wray Yuma
Counties	Adams Alamosa Arapahoe Archuleta Baca Bent Boulder Broomfield Chaffee Cheyenne Clear Creek Conejos Costilla Crowley Custer Delta Denver Dolores Douglas Eagle El Paso Elbert Fremont Garfield Gilpin Grand Gunnison Hinsdale Huerfano Jackson Jefferson Kiowa Kit Carson La Plata Lake Larimer Las Animas Lincoln Logan Mesa Mineral Moffat Montezuma Montrose Morgan Otero Ouray Park Phillips Pitkin Prowers Pueblo Rio Blanco Rio Grande Routt Saguache San Juan San Miguel Sedgwick Summit Teller Washington Weld Yuma
Regions	Central Colorado Colorado Eastern Plains Colorado Mineral Belt Colorado Piedmont Colorado Plateau Colorado Western Slope Denver Metropolitan Area Four Corners Region Front Range Urban Corridor High Plains North Central Colorado Urban Area Northwestern Colorado San Luis Valley South-Central Colorado South Central Colorado Urban Area Southern Rocky Mountains Southwestern Colorado
Colorado portal

show v t U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Topics	Architectural style categories Contributing property Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places Keeper of the Register National Park Service Property types
Lists by state	List of U.S. National Historic Landmarks by state: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Lists by insular areas	American Samoa Guam Minor Outlying Islands Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico Virgin Islands
Lists by associated state	Federated States of Micronesia Marshall Islands Palau
Other areas	District of Columbia Morocco
Related	National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 Historic Preservation Fund List of jails and prisons on the National Register of Historic Places University and college buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places portal Category