Berea College
Founded in 1855, Berea College was the only integrated and coeducational college in the South for nearly forty years. As Berea College grew, a community surrounding it quickly sprang up and the college appointed a prudential committee to look after the affairs of the newly developed town. They laid out streets and sold lots, established a fire department, dug a public well, and subscribed to have the railroad and public roads come through the town.
In the 1890’s, there was a growing national interest in the culture and traditions of Appalachia by local color writers, academics, missionaries and teachers. These people were fascinated by richness and traditional Western European culture which still existed in the mountains, but they were also dismayed by the apparent isolation, poverty and depravation.
Danforth Chapel
The brick chapel is executed in the Victorian Gothic style. Bascilical in plan with a steep gable roof, the Danforth Chapel contains stained-glass windows designed by the Willet Stained Glass Company of Philadelphia. On the east and west facades five pointed-arch bays of paired lancet windows with stone mullions are separated by brick buttresses that also have stone detailing. On the north facade, or gable end, one flattened pointed-arch bay which encloses four lancet windows with tracery, admits color-filtered light into the altar area.
The north, east, and west exterior walls contain fifty-four stones from all over the world, including Istanbul, Greece, Rome, and Oberammergau, the birthplace of Martin Luther.
