Saint David's Episcopal Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at Saint David's Episcopal Church has to say — and friend, this one's worth slowing down for. Picture Austin when it was still finding its edges. Pioneer Austin, they called it, and they meant it — a young capital city still deciding what it wanted to be.

Out at the edge of town, on a patch of ground that had never once held a secular building, something was about to rise that would outlast nearly everything around it. April 7, 1853. They laid the cornerstone — with what the marker calls impressive ceremonies, and you get the sense those folks knew they were doing something that mattered.

The church went up in native limestone, and the design was something you don't see every day: Spanish mission blended with traditional Gothic. Two worlds of architecture, shaking hands in the Texas Hill Country sunlight. And it was the first stone church in the capital city.

The very first. Now, the people who built it weren't just any congregation. The founders included officials from the government of the late Republic of Texas — men who had already lived through one whole nation before this one.

The rector was the Reverend Edward Fontaine, and here's where the story gets a long reach: he was the great-grandson of Patrick Henry, and back in 1841 he had served as Secretary to President Mirabeau Lamar. The republic, the revolution, the founding fathers — all of it came walking right through the front door. At first the church was called the Church of the Epiphany.

Then, in 1859, it was renamed Saint David's. And under that name it became the home church of the first Bishop of the Diocese of Texas — the Right Reverend Alexander Gregg. The first bishop of the whole diocese, right there in that limestone building at what used to be the edge of town.

That same year the cornerstone went in, 1853, a bell was cast in Philadelphia. That bell is still in use. Let that settle for a second.

Still. In. Use.

The stained-glass windows are mainly of the Victorian period, and the building itself has seen 19th and 20th century additions that have changed it greatly — but the marker says its frontier aspect has been preserved. The bones of the original are still in there. The church's first organist was a novelist named Amelia Barr.

She looked at that building and said it "stood at the gate of the city like visible prayer." Not a bad line for a woman who wrote novels for a living — and not a bad description for a limestone church that started at the edge of everything and ended up, somehow, in the heart of it. Because that's exactly where Saint David's stands today. What was once the frontier is now the center.

The city grew up around it, the decades piled on, and the church just kept standing — bell ringing, windows catching light, limestone holding firm. The marker calls it an example of historic stability, and I'd say that's about right. Some things get planted so deep, the whole city has to grow up to meet them.

What the marker says

Located in pioneer Austin at the edge of town, on a site never used for a secular building. At 1st called Church of the Epiphany, cornerstone laid on April 7, 1853, with impressive ceremonies. The Capital city’s first stone church. Built of native limestone, its architecture blended Spanish mission with traditional Gothic elements. Founders included officials from government of late Republic of Texas. Rector was the Rev. Edward Fontaine; great-grandson of Patrick Henry and Secretary in 1841 to President Mirabeau Lamar. Renamed Saint David’s in 1859, home church of the first Bishop of the Diocese of Texas, the Right Reverend Alexander Gregg. Although 19th and 20th century additions to the early building have changed greatly, it’s 30 frontier aspect is been preserved. The bell still in use was cast in Philadelphia in 1853. The stained-glass windows are mainly of the Victorian period. Church’s first organist, the novelist Amelia Barr, said that “stood at the gate of the city like visible prayer.” An example of historic stability, it stands today in the heart of the city. Recorded Texas Historic landmark - 1966