Christ Church Cathedral

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just along for the ride. Now, pull up a chair and let me tell you about a church that's been standing watch over Houston longer than most of Houston has been Houston. We're talking about Christ Church Cathedral, and the story starts with thirty-nine men — count 'em, thirty-nine — who came together on March 16, 1839, to say they were going to build something lasting.

Leading that gathering were two figures worth knowing: the Rev. R.M. Chapman, a missionary of the Episcopal Church in the United States, and Col.

William Fairfax Gray, described right there on the marker as an early Houstonian. Now that's a phrase that carries some weight in a city that was itself barely out of the cradle. Then, just a couple weeks later — Easter Monday, April 1, 1839 — Christ Church was officially established.

The second Episcopal parish in the entire Republic of Texas. Not the state of Texas. The Republic.

That's the kind of deep root you don't pull up easy. In those earliest days, some of the first services were held in the Capitol of the Republic itself, standing then at the corner of Main Street and Texas Avenue. Think about that — a congregation borrowing the Capitol building on a Sunday morning.

By 1844, a wooden building on this very site was serving as a church. Two years later, in 1846, that wooden structure was supplanted by a brick one. Then in 1859, a second brick church was begun, and it was enlarged in 1876.

The present building went up in 1893 — and it has stood through a great deal, including a fire in 1938 that required the altar area to be rebuilt. But here's a quiet detail that stops you cold: the original cornerstone is still there, inside the church, where you can see it today. Now, a parish this old has been shaped by some significant hands.

It was founded under the Rt. Rev. Leonidas Polk, missionary bishop, and often visited by his successor, the Rt.

Rev. George Washington Freeman. Then came the steady guidance of the Rt.

Rev. Alexander Gregg — first bishop of the Diocese of Texas — and the Rt. Rev.

George Herbert Kinsolving, the second bishop. And in 1949, under the Rt. Rev.

Clinton S. Quin, the third bishop, Christ Church became the Cathedral of the Diocese. From thirty-nine men in a borrowed Capitol, through wooden walls and brick walls and fire and more than a century of Sundays — that cornerstone has been there for all of it.

What the marker says

The second Episcopal parish in the Republic of Texas. Led by a missionary of the Episcopal Church in the United States, the Rev. R.M. Chapman, and by an early Houstonian, Col. William Fairfax Gray, thirty-nine men came together on March 16, 1839, to organize an Episcopal Church, and on Easter Monday, April 1, 1839, Christ Church was officially established. Some of the first service were held in the Capitol of the Republic, then at the corner of Main Street and Texas Avenue. In 1844 a wooden building on this site served as a church. In 1846 it was supplanted by a brick structure. In 1859 a second brick church was begun, then enlarged in 1876. Present building was erected in 1893, its altar area rebuilt after a fire in 1938. The original cornerstone may be seen inside the church. Founded under the Rt. Rev. Leonidas Polk, missionary bishop, and often visited by his successor, the Rt. Rev. George Washington Freeman, the parish was guided and nurtured by the Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg, first bishop of the Diocese of Texas, and by the Rt. Rev. George Herbert Kinsolving, second bishop. It became in 1949 the Cathedral of the Diocese under the Rt. Rev. Clinton s. Quin, third bishop.