William LaBarthe Steele, who worked briefly for Sullivan in Chicago, is responsible for the flowering of progressive architecture in Sioux City, Iowa, one of the more remote outposts of the Prairie School. It was his initiative that led to the design and construction of the Woodbury County Court House, and he continued to utilize Prairie School details well after the style had faded across the rest of the country.

Built in 1918, the First Baptist Church is intriguingly eclectic. Here Richardsonian elements are combined with the taut surfaces characteristic of some later Purcell & Elmslie designs. It is marred by the unfortunate dome, whose current brilliant white color only highlights its poor integration.

Added to the National Register of Historic Places, 1979.

References
• Gebhard, David, and Mansheim, Gerald: Buildings of Iowa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 502-03.
• Wilson, Richard Guy, and Robinson, Sidney K. The Prairie School in Iowa. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State University Press, 1977, p. 112-113.