All Saints' Episcopal Church

Duane's take

Here's the story as the marker at All Saints' Episcopal Church tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, when you want a church that means business, you start with the stone. And the folks behind All Saints' Episcopal Church, dating all the way back to 1899, they knew exactly what they were doing.

They went out to Liberty Hill and quarried white Austin limestone, the kind of stone that glows in the Texas sun like it has something to say. They crowned it with a dark slate roof, and right there, before you ever step inside, you've got yourself a building that commands attention. But the shape of it, that's where the story gets interesting.

This church is built on what's called a cruciform plan. A long nave runs from the main entrance at the west all the way to the chancel at the east, and then the north and south transepts reach out to either side, forming a cross. The whole structure IS the symbol.

Every line of it is deliberate, every angle is intentional. Step inside, and your eyes are going to go straight to the windows. Almost every stained-glass window in that place came from the Willett Stained Glass Studios of Philadelphia, and Willett's reputation didn't come from nowhere.

All but one of those windows carry that famous name. Then comes 1939, and San Antonio architect Marvin Eichenricht takes on the task of renovation. He extended the chancel to the east, and here's the part that'll stick with you: he built that extension from stone quarried at the very same Liberty Hill quarry as the original.

Decades later, the same stone, the same source, reaching across time to keep the whole thing whole. That's not just construction. That's a kind of faith in itself.

What the marker says

Dating to 1899, this historic church is built of white Austin limestone quarried in Liberty Hill, and is complemented with a dark slate roof. It exemplifies the cruciform plan, with a long nave leading from the main entrance at the west to the chancel at the East, and a cross formed by North and South transepts. All but one of the stained-glass windows are the work of the famed Willett Stained Glass Studios of Philadelphia. A 1939 renovation by San Antonio architect Marvin Eichenricht extended the chancel to the east and was built of stone from the same quarry used in the original structure. Recorded Texas historic landmark - 2013