Tag Archives: Episcopal Church

Good Shepherd Episcopal Church-Tryon, North Carolina

The congregation of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church began in 1886 in a log church near Tryon as a place for Black residents to worship. It didn’t officially become the Good Shepherd Mission until 1908.

Before the mission’s founding, the church existed in a Sunday school begun by Mabel True Plaisted, the second wife of Maine’s governor and member of the local white Episcopal Church, Holy Cross, to educate local Black schoolchildren. The school became a local gathering place for the Black community, much to the chagrin of the white community members. The town forced Plaisted to close the school because they did not want the school so close to Holy Cross.

In the following year, the Tyron Industrial Colored School was opened on Markham Road, an area that was approximately a mile from town along winding roads. The church used the school for services. By 1908, the building became an official missionary chapel of the Episcopal Missionary District of Asheville.

The building was used until the 1950s, when it was decided that the old building needed to be replaced. The church found an abandoned church, St. Andrews Chapel, on a nearby plantation was built in the early 1900s for the servants and tenant farmers of the plantation to use. The church was dismantled and moved to its current location. The building is still in use today.

While the church was started for the Black community members of Tryon, it became integrated in the sixties and is now fully integrated.

Nina Simone grew up in Tryon. Her parents and a few of her siblings are buried in the Good Shepherd Cemetery.

Grace Episcopal Church-Clayton, Alabama

This Gothic Revival Church was completed in 1876 on land donated by Henry DeLamar Clayton, the town’s namesake and former president of the University of Alabama. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

The Prince of Peace Episcopal Church-Vienna, Georgia

Constructed in 1903, the Prince of Peace Episcopal Church was originally located on Cotton Street, but it is now located on School Drive on the Vienna School campus. By the 40s, it was no longer used as a church and became the home of Aunt Genie’s Kindergarten. The building has recently been restored and is now home of the Vienna Cultural Center.

St. George’s Episcopal Church-Pungoteague, Virginia

Picture credit: Library of Congress. Taken in 1930.

Built in 1738, the St. George’s Church is the oldest extant church on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Federal Troops used it as a horse stable and caused great damage. It was rebuilt after the Civil War. Some of the original brickwork is still in place. The church is used sporadically, along with its cemetery.

Notice the checkered pattern. This is an early American example of the Flemish bond. You can read more about it and why the brick appears white in some photos on this website.

It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

The Episcopal Church of the Savior-Trenton, South Carolina

The Episcopal Church of Our Savior is one house of worship for The Episcopal Church of the Ridge congregation. The two other churches are the Grace Episcopal Church in Ridge Spring, SC, and Trinity Episcopal Church in Edgefield, SC. The churches rotate church services.

This building is the “newest” of the three churches since it was built in the 1880s. The first church building is no longer standing, but the current sanctuary was consecrated on June 30, 1882, by Bishop William B. W. Howe. The bell tower was added at a later time.