episcopal churches

Grace Episcopal Church, Providence // 1846

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Grace Episcopal Church has anchored the corner of Westminster and Mathewson Streets in Downtown Providence since it was completed in 1846. The congregation was founded in 1829 by some of the parishioners of St. John’s Episcopal Church on the East Side of Providence, at a period that the west side of the Providence River began to develop in earnest. The new parish had little money and managed to buy the old Providence Theatre, on the site Grace Church occupies today. The building was purchased and remodeled for $6,000, a large sum in those days, and converted into a church. Over a decade later, the growing parish had funding to erect a more permanent and suitable building. They hired one of the most well-respected architects in the country, Richard Upjohn, to design their new house of worship, which resulted in what is believed to be the first asymmetrical Gothic Revival church in America. In 1912, the firm of Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson deepened the chancel and added a parish house, extending Upjohn’s original design without disrupting it, and the church’s four-level tower and masonry spire still command the prominent corner in Downtown Providence today.

Saint Gabriel’s Episcopal Church, Marion // 1874

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Originally constructed in 1835 as the Sippican Seminary, also known as the “Dames School” because its student body included many daughters of Marion sea captains, this building had its beginnings as a private school and was later converted to a Victorian chapel as Marion grew into a summer colony. As public schools became more popular, the such a private institution was no longer needed and the site was purchased by a local Episcopal congregation for use as a summer chapel. In 1874, the Greek Revival style academy building was either fully transformed into this modest, Carpenter Gothic shingled chapel or the new chapel was built on its site. As Marion prospered as a summer colony with wealthy summer residents coming to town every summer, members of the congregation donated stained glass windows and other fixtures to the chapel. Many of the distinguished stained glass windows by the Charles J. Connick Studios of Boston remain.

St. Andrew’s in the Valley Church // 1927

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The St. Andrew’s in the Valley Episcopal Church in Tamworth, New Hampshire, is an architecturally significant early 20th century rustic chapel that has been lovingly preserved and expanded by its congregation. The church was envisioned by Reverend Frederick C. Cowper (1851-1929), who was called to gather congregants in the summer colonies in the White Mountains to fund and build a new chapel. Rev. Cowper was granted land in the Whittier area of Tamworth and worked with Boston architect, Walter H. Kilham, who had a summer home in Tamworth, to draw up plans for the new church. Kilham is said to have based his designs off of the 11th-century Church of Saint Helena in Austerfield, England, just in the local vernacular with rubblestone acquired from the land in New Hampshire and not cut stone blocks like that of St. Helena. The church exhibits elements of the Arts and Crafts style with the stucco wing and thoughtful stone bell tower.

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Parish House, Ashland // 1899

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Adjacent to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Ashland, New Hampshire, the congregation’s Parish House stands as a complimentary extension to the Victorian Gothic church next door. Built in 1899 as a vestry for the church, the Parish House perfectly blends both the Victorian Gothic and Shingle styles of architecture into a single composition with lancet windows and steep gable roof and continuous shingle siding and rubblestone foundation. While the architect is not known, the Parish House stands as one of the finest examples of a building of its type in New England and is clearly the work of a skilled architect.

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Ashland // 1859

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Located next door to the historic Town Hall, the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Ashland, New Hampshire, stands as one of the state’s finest Victorian-era churches. The Episcopal congregation in Ashland was established in 1855, and originally met in the town’s union church before funding was secured for land and designs for a new church. The unique building was designed by New York architect, J. Coleman Hart, who specialized in parish churches in the Victorian Gothic and Stick styles. With a single nave, the church is notable for its brick construction with walls adorned by half-timbering. The tower rises three stories with circular openings and an open belfry in the third, all topped by a spire. Now known as the Emmanuel Episcopal Church, the congregation is a part of the New Hampshire Episcopal diocese.

Christ Church, Swansea // 1900

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Designed in the mode of a traditional English country church, the Christ Church of Swansea is among the finest Neo-Gothic Revival edifices in New England and evokes a sense of history and tradition despite only being built in 1900. The church was funded by benefactors, Frank Shaw Stevens and Elizabeth Case Stevens, who lived down the street in the town’s largest mansion. After the death of her husband Frank, Elizabeth began a large gifting campaign to the Town of Swansea, and funded the construction of the town’s library, school, and this church (they had already funded the 1891 Town Hall). For the village church, Elizabeth hired their friend, and renowned English-born architect, Henry Vaughan, who designed the building with heavy granite walls, lancet windows and a facade dominated by an entry tower with rounded corner all capped by battlements. The Christ Church of Swansea resembles an old Medieval English church but in a New England village, amazing work as always Mr. Vaughan!

St. John’s Episcopal Church of Sharon // 1902

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The small yet architecturally significant St. John’s Episcopal Church in Sharon, Massachusetts, was built in 1902 from plans by one of the premier ecclesiastical architects of the early 20th century. Episcopalians in Sharon began demanding their own house of worship in the late 19th century, and by the turn of the century, had funding to erect their own chapel. Boston-based architect, Ralph Adams Cram, of the firm Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson, designed the building, which fits within the scale of the residential neighborhood it is located within. St. John’s is an example of Neo-Gothic Revival architecture, a style which Cram became known for, with a fieldstone base, three feet thick, and stucco gabled facade above with tripartite windows with diamond-cut colored glass. The chapel was expanded at the rear, but maintains its rustic charm at the street.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, New Haven // 1829

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Built beginning in 1829, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Chapel Street in Wooster Square, New Haven, Connecticut, was one of the first churches in the nation built in the Gothic Revival style and a visual entrance to the iconic neighborhood. Constructed from local brownstone, the design of the building is attributed to a partnership between master builder and contractor, Sidney Mason Stone, and Sherman Croswell, son of the congregation’s pastor, Rev. Harry Croswell, who possibly consulted with architect, Ithiel Town. St. Paul’s is said to be the first attributed work of Sidney Mason Stone, who went on to build and design over 100 churches, homes, and buildings all over the region. The church originally featured two end towers were built of wood but were ambitiously removed in 1893 to be replaced with stone belfries, which was likely the original design. Sadly, funding ran out and only one tower was rebuilt of stone, leaving the lopsided single-tower look today.

Trinity Episcopal Church of Wrentham // 1872

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Overlooking the Town Green in Wrentham, Massachusetts, the Trinity Episcopal Church of Wrentham stands as the town’s finest example of Victorian Gothic architecture and the community’s oldest Episcopal church. Episcopalians in Wrentham first began worshipping in 1863 and in less than ten years, quickly grew in numbers from just two members to so many that a church building was needed to house the congregation. The site on East Street was purchased and architect, Shepard S. Woodcock, was hired to furnish plans for the new building. Completed in 1872, the Victorian Gothic design features all of the hallmarks of the style, including the steeply pitched roof, pointed arch windows and entry doors, buttresses, and towering steeple.

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church // 1829

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St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Warren, Rhode Island, is a small, yet architecturally significant building that was one of the first examples of the Greek Revival style in the community. The episcopal church was formed in Warren in 1828, with members originally meeting in Cole’s Hotel while this site and construction completed on their new house of worship. The well-connected congregation hired architect, Russell Warren, who had just completed the Westminster Arcade, a landmark in the Greek Revival style, in Downtown Providence. Distinguished by its beautiful four columned Ionic portico and canted door frames, the church also originally had a square tower and parapet, which were removed following the 1938 hurricane, and replaced with a simple pediment. The parish closed in 2010 and the diocese sold the building in 2012 to private owners, who converted it about ten years ago into a residence, but retained the historic stained glass windows and character of the building. The entire site today (2026) is being renovated with what appears to be a modern addition on the side (not pictured). Hopefully the architecture of this landmark will be preserved.

Immanuel St. James Episcopal Church // 1843

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The Gothic Revival style Immanuel St. James Episcopal Church of Derby is a landmark example of the style in this part of Connecticut and serves as the eastern anchor to the Birmingham Green in town. The church dates to 1843 and was built by The stone church was was built by stonemason, Harvey Johnson and Nelson Hinman, a carpenter. The land for the church was donated by Sheldon Smith and Anson G. Phelps, wealthy industrialists in town. The building originally had a wooden steeple, which was replaced by the present stone belfry in 1853. The church merged with another area congregation, which together, have preserved this significant structure, though the communications antennae on the battlements on the belfry is unfortunate.

St. John’s Church, Portsmouth // 1807

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St. John’s Episcopal Church is located on Chapel Street, atop Church Hill near the historic commercial center of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A church has been located on this site since 1732, when British Anglicans built Queen’s Chapel here. It was named “Queen’s Chapel” after King George II’s wife, Queen Caroline, who donated many fine gifts to help the new parish. The congregation increased in growth alongside the community until a tragic fire on Christmas Eve in 1806, which destroyed over 300 buildings in Portsmouth including the original wooden structure of St. John’s and most of its contents. The parishioners immediately began to raise funds to erect the present brick church, with its cornerstone laid in June 1807. The Federal style church was one of the first known buildings by architect-engineer, Alexander Parris, in the time before he moved to Boston, designing many iconic buildings there. St. John’s Church of Portsmouth stands as the oldest Episcopal Parish in New Hampshire and was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Memorial Church of All Angels, Twilight Park // 1896

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The Memorial Church of All Angels is located in the center of the summer colony of Twilight Park, found in the town of Hunter in the Catskill Mountains. The founding of the church began shortly after the colony was established in 1888, when two years later, the Rev. H. M. Baum from Evanston, Pa., an early visitor to the Park, realized the need for an Episcopal Church, and funds were raised to build a small chapel, known as the St. Paul’s Church. The church was foreclosed upon in a matter of years. In 1895, church services were again reinvigorated when the Rev. Henry Yates Satterlee, the first bishop of Washington, then the Rector of Calvary Church, New York, had taken the cottage of his cousin, the artist Walter Satterlee, for his summer home. He set out to establish a summer chapel for Episcopalians in Twilight Park, and he hired architect Alexander Mackintosh, to furnish plans for the church. The church opened in 1896, and it would be expanded in 1909 with an addition and porch and again in 1915 with the belltower. The church opens every summer for services and is one of the finest Episcopal chapels in the Northeast.

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church // 1833

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The St. Peter’s Episcopal Church of Salem, is a landmark example of a granite, Gothic Revival church of the 19th century. The present church, which is constructed of Cape Ann granite, was the second church on the site built for local Episcopalians, replacing a wood-frame building constructed there 100 years prior. Designed by architect Isaiah Rogers, the Gothic church features a prominent entry tower with a quatrefoil window in each elevation, large lancet-arched windows in the tower and lining the sanctuary, and a crenelated parapet. When completed, St. Peter’s had Salem’s first church bell, an 1740 English bell that supposedly still graces the tower today and is said to be the oldest church bell in the United States! In 1871, the rear chapel was added to the building, from plans by George E. Harney. The chapel was built directly over the old parish cemetery, requiring some of the tombstones to be placed inside the chapel walls, while others were moved to the front of the church, creating a really unique “garden cemetery” in front of the church.

Trinity Episcopal Church, Newton // 1915

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The Trinity Episcopal Church in Newton Centre is one of the most unique and architecturally significant buildings in the village. Episcopalians began meeting in Newton Centre by at least 1889 and began discussions about erecting their own church. A small wood-frame chapel was built (since relocated and used by the Newton Parks Department) and provided worship space for years until the 1910s when the congregation acquired enough funds to build a more substantial structure. The cornerstone for the new church, which was designed by architect George W. Chickering, was laid in May of 1915, and the building was completed in 1916. Modeled after the stunning King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, England, the high-style Gothic edifice is notable for the crenelated parapet and pinnacles rising above the buttresses.