Grace Episcopal Church

The first Episcopal mission came to Texas in 1838 and the Texas diocese was organized in 1849. Trinity Episcopal Church, founded in 1855 as Galveston's first Episcopal parish, was the third Episcopal mission in Texas. During the 1870s, due to the growth of the membership in Trinity Church, the Rector suggested that a Sunday school be formed to serve the west end of the parish. As the Sunday school enrollment rapidly increased, the Trinity Church Guild decided there was a sufficient need for a new church structure. On the quarter block corner of 36th and Ave. L, a small wood frame Gothic church was built in 1874 and given the name of Trinity Chapel. Rev. Jeremiah Ward was the first pastor and in 1876, Trinity Church granted the chapel's petition to form an independent parish under the name of Grach church.

In 1884, having long been active in Trinity Episcopal Church, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Rosenberg became parishioners of Grace Church. Mr. Rosenberg's membership has great significance for the parish, for he was primarily responsible for the erection of the present structure. At his death in 1893, he bequeathed $30,000 for a new church building.

Born in 1824, in Bilton, Canton Flarus, Switzerland, Henry Rosenberg came with a friend to Galveston in 1843. He first worked as a clerk in the friend's dry goods store and succeeded in the business when the owner returned to Switzer- land. By 1850 Rosenberg's store was the largest of its kind in Texas.

Throughout his life, Rosenberg was active in both commercial and civic activities in Galveston. He erected several commercial buildings and had interests in several business enterprises. In 1874 he organized the Galveston Bank and Trust co., later known as H. Rosenberg, Banker. He served as director of the First National Bank, the Galveston City Railroad, the Galveston Wharf Co., and the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad co. He was twice elected city alderman and in 1869 was appointed Consul for Switzerland, a post he held until his death. In addition, Rosenberg was a vestryman of both the Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church and the Grace Episcopal Church.

Rosenberg used his accumulated wealth in philanthropic activity both during his lifetime and through his will. In addition to the funds he willed to Grace Church, he provided innumerable bequests among which were sums for churches, an orphan's home, and old woman's home, a YMCA, a monument to the heroes of the Texas Revolution of 1836, city drinking fountains, and funds for the establishment of a free public library for Galveston.

In 1894 the cornerstone was laid for a new church building, which had been designed by the noted Galveston architect, Nicholas J. Clayton. Since his arrival in Galveston in 1872, Clayton had designed a number of Galveston's monumental buildings including the Bishop's Palace, 1887-91 (see National Register Sub-mission, Bishop's Palace, 1970), and old Red, 1891 (see National Register Submission, Old Red, 1969). Silas McBee of New York was the consultant and Thomas Darragh was the contractor. Exclusive of the furnishings, the church cost $35,000. Henry Rosen- berg's widow, Mrs. Mollie Ragan Macgill Rosenberg, closely supervised the church's construction to assure that only the best materials were used. Upon completion of the exterior, she spent an additional $10,000 to furnish the fine interior decorations of hand-carved woodwork made in Switzerland and bronze and glass- work made in New York.

From a small parish of only 50 communicants in 1890, the membership increased to 220 by 1895. However, the Hurricane of 1900 which nearly destroyed the island of Galveston, killed nearly half the parishioners of Grace Church. The new limestone church building weathered the storm and provided refuge for many, but the old wooden church, which had been moved behind the stone church and was serving as the parish hall, washed away in the storm.

To help protect the island from future hurricanes, a seawall 4 miles long was built around Galveston. Between 1905-11 the entire city raised an average of seven feet by pumping 20 million cubic feet of sand into it. Between 1904-07, Grace Church was raised 4 1/2 feet at the cost of $7000 to the parish. In addition, the building was badly damaged and required repair. In 1907 there were 243 communicants and 157 members of the Grace Church Sunday School. However, the membership sharply declined in the following years. Due to the infrequent assignment of a Rector to Grace church between 1908-1926, the devastation of the 1915 hurricane, and the interruption by World War I, the parish lost much of its membership during these years. In 1917, the devoted member and benefactress, Mollie Rosenberg died. Despite attempts to keep the parish going, Grace Church was returned to mission status on April 29, 1923. For a time the church building was not even used and members had to attend Trinity Church.

Finally, in 1927, Trinity church authorized an assistant to conduct services at Grace Church. With his encouragement, the Sunday School was reorganized and a spirit of enthusiasm was rekindled. Despite another hurricane in 1843 which did $10,000 worth of damage, Grace Church was officially reorganized as a full parish again in 1944 and a permanent Rector was assigned. By 1952 a parish hall equal in size to the church was built to serve the growing church membership.

This impressive limestone structure with a beautifully designed interior represents an important architectural landmark for Galveston, as well as a historic document of the evolution of the Episcopal church in the city.

The Grace Episcopal Church, designed in 1894 by Nicholas Clayton, represents one of Galveston's fine 19th-century Gothic Revival churches. Clayton's works popularized the Victorian Gothic more than any other 19th-century architect in Texas. Although less elaborate than many of his designs, the character of the Gothic Revival in Grace Episcopal Church is carried out in the buttresses, lancets, rose windows, crenelated towers, and steeply pitched roofs.

The Gothic Revival interior represents fine craftsmanship in the open truss ceiling, the richly decorated chancel and sanctuary, and the stained glass memorial windows. Gothic arches supported by colonnettes separate the central nave from the side aisles. Above each colonnette are beautifully carved wall posts, supporting the arched brace of the trussed ceiling. Lancet windows form a clerestory on the second level.

The focal point of the interior is the richly carved woodwork of the reredos and altar.