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St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church
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| Location: | 233 N. Charles St., Baltimore, Maryland |
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| Built: | 1854 |
| Architect: | Upjohn, Richard |
| Architectural style: | Basilica style |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: |
73002198 [1] |
| Added to NRHP: | March 30, 1973 |
St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church, more commonly called Old St. Paul's Church today, is a historic Episcopal church located at 233 North Charles Street in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It was founded in 1692 as the parish church for Patapsco Parish, one of the original 30 parishes in colonial Maryland.[2]
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St. Paul's was founded in 1692 under the Establishment Act, which created 30 "Protestant" (Anglican) parishes in the colony of Maryland. The first church was located somewhere along Colgate Creek, between modern-day Dundalk and southeastern Baltimore City. When Baltimore City was founded in its present location in 1729, the parish moved to "Lot 19," the highest point in the original city boundaries. The present church is located on a portion of that property.
All Episcopal parishes in Baltimore City and many in Baltimore County are in some way traced to Old St. Paul's. The first "daughter" congregation, Christ Church (closed 1986), was created in 1796 near the present day War Memorial. Another congregation, St. Peter's, was created in an evangelical split from Old St. Paul's in 1801 during the rectorate of Dr. Joseph Bend; that congregation is today known as Grace and St. Peter's and has, ironically, evolved into a high church Anglo-Catholic parish.
The third building erected for St. Paul's was designed by noted Baltimore architect Robert Carey Long. This neo-classical structure seated 1,600 people in the main level and galleries and was graced with a 126 foot high tower. The three orders of Greek columns adorned the building. It was destroyed by fire in 1854; the cross that fell from the tower now adorns the old Church Home Hospital on Broadway in Baltimore. The fourth church was completed two years later.
The 1856 building reflected the growing influence of the Oxford Movement in the Episcopal Church. Richard Upjohn's design for the new building invoked not the democratic values of the Federal Period but the Catholicism of Italy, which he had recently toured. Since the existing walls of St. Paul's did not allow for the pointed-gothic design preferred by the Ecclesiological Society, Upjohn patterned the building after the Basilica of San Giorgio in Rome. The side galleries so important to preaching were not rebuilt, and focus in the building was dramatically pointed to the altar with a spacious (for the time) chancel.
Thus the "high church" position that St. Paul's had occupied since the rectorate of Dr. Bend became more pronounced, especially under the rectorate of Dr. William Wyatt, who oversaw the construction of the new building and the creation of a number of Anglo-Catholic mission parishes around Baltimore City, most notably Mount Calvary Church. His successor, Rev'd. Milo Mahan, introduced candles on the altar and seasonal liturgical colors. Rev'd. John Sebastian Bach Hodges, who led the parish for 35 years until 1905, replaced a paid quartet with the Choir of Men and Boys, which still sings at the 11 am Sunday service. In 2002, a Choir of Girls was created during the rectorship of Rev'd. David Cobb.
Two rectors of Old St. Paul's have become bishops of Episcopal Diocese of Maryland: The Right Rev'd. James Kemp (1764-1827) and the Right Rev'd Harry Doll (1903-1984).
The present church was designed by renowned architect Richard Upjohn, with an eclectic juxtaposition of 12th-century Italian elements on the exterior and Romanesque elements on the interior. The exterior facade features two bas-reliefs, executed by the Italian sculptor Antonio Capellano that were originally part of the façade of the previous church. Other elements from the 1817 structure include the walls of the Federal period building, a stained glass window of the risen Christ over the entrance, a marble baptismal font designed by Maximillian Godefroy, and the Bishop’s chair given to St. Paul’s in 1815.
The church was given a relatively dark Victorian appearance when opened. The Greek columns were painted a sandstone orange, with an elaborate color scheme of brown, red, and yellow ochres dominating the rest of the nave. The chancel was dominated by a black walnut reredos. Stars were painted on the ceiling, and a small stained-glass window of St. Paul stood above the high altar. English Minton tiles adorned the aisles and chancel that complimented the color scheme of the church. An anonymous painting of this interior is still in the possession of the parish.
In 1903, the chancel was renovated to a brighter appearance, in accordance with the tastes of the period. The reredos was moved to the back of the church (where it still stands as a memorial wall), and a new Tiffany reredos was installed with a completely new design for the east wall, including a large window by Helen Maitland Armstrong was installed above the altar, with the St. Paul window moved to the south aisle. The ochres of the 1850s gave way to white faux blocks etched into the nave.
The oldest of the aisle windows date to 1890, but most were installed at the same time as the chancel redecoration. The designers include Tiffany Studios and Clayton & Bell Studios.
In the 1930s, the faux blocking was removed, leaving only tracery around the windows. The chancel was renovated for cleaning and maintenance in the 1990s. The Parish is currently exploring options for an historic restoration that would restore some of the spirit of the original color scheme while preserving the 1903 renovation.
Prominent members of the parish include Samuel Chase, John Eager Howard, and Thomas Johnson.[3]
St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[1]
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