All Saints' Episcopal Church

Duane's take

The way I tell it here follows the official marker, so let's do this story right. Now, if you want to talk about land with a past, you've come to the right corner of Austin. The ground beneath All Saints' Episcopal Church was once part of a mid-1840s land grant belonging to Mirabeau B.

Lamar, former President of the Republic of Texas. That's the kind of pedigree that makes a piece of dirt stand up a little straighter. Not far from that same ground stood the official residence of the second Bishop of the Diocese of Texas, the Rt.

Rev. George Herbert Kinsolving, born 1849, died 1928. Now, Bishop Kinsolving and his wife Grace weren't the type to let good land sit idle.

Aided by the two of them, the Diocese of Texas bought this property to serve as a residence for women students of the University of Texas. They built that residence in 1897, and they called it Grace Hall, and Grace Hall stood in use for nearly seventy years. Not a bad legacy for a single plot of Austin limestone country.

But here's where the story gets another layer. In 1899, a chapel was erected right alongside Grace Hall. They named it All Saints', and they dedicated it to the memory of the Rt.

Rev. Alexander Gregg, born 1819, died 1893, the very first Episcopal Bishop of Texas. So before All Saints' ever rang a bell, it was already carrying the weight of history on its Gothic Revival shoulders.

Austin architect A. O. Watson designed the structure in that Gothic Revival style, built from native limestone, the kind of stone this part of Texas has been stacking since before anyone was keeping records.

And those stained glass windows inside, Medieval Mosaic style, they're recognized as fine examples of American art. You walk through that door, you're not just walking into a church. You're walking into something that earned its reputation.

By 1910, All Saints' had grown from a chapel into a full parish, serving the spreading university neighborhood around it. And over time, three of its Rectors went on to become Bishops. Three.

That's not coincidence. That's a congregation with a certain gravity to it. And at the center of that gravity was Bishop Kinsolving himself.

His crozier of office, the shepherd's staff that marks a bishop's authority, stood in the chancel of All Saints' for thirty-five years. The parish remembered him as its founder, its benefactor, and its lifelong friend. He had a wish, and the parish honored it.

In 1939, his body was buried beneath the altar. The man who helped bring the church into being now rests inside it, beneath the very place where the sacred words are spoken. Some stories don't need an ending.

They just need a place to stay.

What the marker says

This edifice stands on the mid-1840s land grant of former Republic of Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar, and near the official residence of the second Bishop of the Diocese of Texas, the Rt. Rev. George Herbert Kinsolving (1849-1928). Aided by the Bishop and his wife Grace, the Diocese of Texas bought this land as site for a residence for women students of the University of Texas. Built in 1897, that structure called "Grace Hall" was in use for nearly 70 years. All Saints", erected in 1899 as a chapel for Grace Hall, was dedicated to the memory of the Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg (1819-93), first Episcopal Bishop of Texas. Austin architect A.O. Watson designed the Gothic Revival structure of native limestone. Its stained glass windows of Medieval Mosaic style are recognized as fine examples of American art. By 1910, All Saints" had become a parish in the growing university neighborhood. In time, three of its Rectors became Bishops. The crozier of office of Bishop Kinsolving stood in the chancel for 35 years. He was revered as the founder, benefactor, and lifelong friend of the parish. As he had wished, his body was buried beneath the altar in 1939. (1975)