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Lots of churches have stained glass windows, and for many in the Northwest, those windows came from the Povey Brothers Studio in Portland.

Brothers David and John Povey started their company in 1888 in a warehouse in Old Town Chinatown. Their first major commission was to supply scores of windows for First Presbyterian Church on Southwest Alder Street, including a 25-foot-high, 16-foot-wide window consisting of five panels.

Anna Myers, who heads up the church’s history group, said the massive window is called the 鈥渄ove window鈥� by church members and was recently restored at a cost of $100,000. Church maintenance dollars paid for the project.

鈥淭he center panel shows a dove over a cross on Calvary Hill with an Easter lily at the bottom and a passion flower winding up the cross,鈥� Myers said.

The huge window was restored by David Schlicker Stained Glass in four months, Myers said. The restored window was reinstalled last month, she said, and Schlicker even came to church on a recent Sunday and talked to the congregation about the restoration process.

Schlicker said Povey Brothers Studio was the in the Northwest 鈥搉ot only for its quality of the work but because few others existed. Examples can be seen all over Oregon, from windows in the Pittock Mansion to door transoms in single-family homes to the state seal at the Oregon Supreme Court. There’s even a Povey stained glass skylight over the bar in Huber’s Caf茅, the oldest restaurant in Portland, on Southwest Third Avenue.

Povey Brothers stained glass windows and are an integral part of Portland architecture, Schlicker said, and contributed significantly to the look and feel of Portland, no matter what the style.

鈥淚f you go back East, Philadelphia or Boston may have had a dozen (stained glass) studios, so there were a lot of different styles and legacies,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut here, although a few came and went, we mostly had just them.鈥�

Schlicker said the Povey brothers’ company was known as 鈥渢he Tiffany Studio of the Northwest鈥� until it shut its doors in 1928. But the brothers’ business really took off, he said, following an exhibit at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland in 1905.

鈥淭hey were just hitting their stride, but that (the exposition) pushed them into prominence,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen everyone from northern California to Alaska to eastern Montana wanted Povey windows.鈥�

Schlicker said the Poveys employed excellent designers, used only the best materials and were able to adapt to different styles, from Victorian to Prairie School to art deco.

鈥淭hey did the churches downtown on the Park Blocks, but you can drive around the state and go to little farming communities and find Povey windows,鈥� he said.

Val Ballestrem, educational manager for the Architectural Heritage Center, said Povey stained glass windows are also an integral part of Rose City Park Methodist Church, where Povey families were members, as well at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church and St. James Lutheran Church in the Park Blocks and the Old Church on Southwest 11th Avenue.

The Architectural Heritage Center owns several Povey stained glass windows, which will be featured next April in an exhibit on early window and door manufacturers in Portland, he said.

鈥淚t was big business in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,鈥� Ballestrem said. 鈥淔or us it’s a story that hasn’t been told before 鈥� the fact that we had all these companies in town, called fashion door companies, that made all sorts of windows, from plain ones to fancy Povey Brothers stained glass.鈥�

Unearthing all the other types of window and door companies in Portland will be part of the exhibit, Ballestrem said, and that historic research will be facilitated by a grant of nearly $10,000 from the Oregon Heritage Commission.

鈥淭here were many window and glass producers in the Portland area,鈥� Ballestrem said. 鈥淎 lot of companies were doing the wood part of it and some were doing glass. We’re talking about local companies making these products for local builders.鈥�

But the Poveys were a 鈥渂enchmark of excellence,鈥� Schlicker said, and were prolific producers.

鈥淔rom 1888 to the Depression that wiped it out in 1928, they had an average of 25 employees,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ut here, that was a huge studio, which means they pumped out a lot of stained glass.鈥�