1898, Frederick W. Paroth. 1062 St. Francis Way (NR)
This Romanesque Revival church of roughcut Castle Rock rhyolite has a dominant single corner spire soaring 162 feet. The interior was once embellished with statues and wood-work carved in Germany but has been remodeled. The church, now used by both the Auraria campus and the community, was Colorado's German national parish, where use of the German language and customs were sanctioned. Germans, counted as the largest foreign-born group in Colorado until 1910, made this church the spiritual center of the Auraria neighborhood with its many breweries and saloons. A curving arcade and cloisters join the church with the St. Francis Conference Center (1980, Marvin Hatami), which has contrasting expanses of glass and stark brick walls.