The Greystone Church was dedicated on October 18, 1914. It was built, in the Maiden Lane neighborhood, for Pullman's Presbyterian community, which had outgrown its earlier (1899) building. In 1963, the Presbyterian congregation moved to a new facility, at which time the Greystone Church was sold to the Spokane Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. It was renamed the St. Thomas More Chapel, and was used as a student center from 1964 to 1980. After 1980 the building had a succession of owners whose plans to redevelop the property failed for a variety of reasons. Consequently the building was subject to vandalism and neglect.
The Greystone Foundation was formed during 1988 in the interest of preserving Greystone Church. Though a landmark building, this structure had no economic use. Demolition of the building was not an immediate concern, as the property on which it was located had no alternate use. The foundation accordingly sought to assist in finding sympathetic investors to assume ownership and to identify a possible use of the structure.
Later, in 1993 and especially after 1996, the Foundation assumed an active role in a second project, the Koppel Farm. This project concerned a community garden and related efforts.
The collection consists of documents relating to the Greystone Foundation, such as meeting minutes, grant proposals, correspondence between the foundation and owners of the Greystone Church, and information about public events related to the Greystone Foundation. There are various drafts and plans for the building (many created by John Benedict); photographs and a draft of a project about the church by Stephanie Norvell, a University of Idaho student; nomination forms for the structure sent to the National Register of Historic Places; news clippings; a short history; and background materials related to the restoration of old buildings.
The bulk of the collection is from the papers of John Benedict, an architectural student at Washington State University who was actively involved with the Greystone Foundation. Richard Domey, a real estate agent who handled the Greystone Church property and was also involved with the Greystone Foundation, donated his own real estate notebook including historical information, clippings, and photographs related to the Greystone Church.
Series 1 includes the papers documenting the activities of the Greystone Foundation; Series 2 is comprised of material related directly to the church, including the Domey, Benedict, and Norvell items; Series 3 is an oversize folder containing Benedict's computer generated designs.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
[Item description]
Greystone Church and Foundation Records, 1975-1995 (Cage 689)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Records concerning the Greystone Church in Pullman, Washington were donated by Alma Wallace and Richard Domey to the Washington State University Libraries in 2002.
Michael Evans processed the collection in 2004.
Greystone Foundation Records, 1988-1997
Donald Bushaw Papers on the Greystone Foundation, circa 1990s
Glenn and Melodie Petry Papers on the Greystone Church Building, 1989-2006
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.