Grace History Trivia 1. Where can the date 1865 be found on the Grace Church exterior. The capstone of the annex building on the Ninth Street side. 2. What was the name of Grace s first pastor? The Rev. Dr. Wm. J. Stevenson 3. What was the original estimate for the cost of the church and property? How much was it over budget? Originally $80,000; final cost $200,000 4. How were the original apse windows lit? Probably natural light from a window now blocked 5. Who was Delaplaine McDaniel? One of the first trustees 6. When was the first mortgage paid off? 1879
Grace Church Three centuries of tradition
Grace Church is the offspring of St. Paul s Methodist Church Groundbreaking was October 1864. The chapel was completed on March 25, 1866. The main sanctuary was dedicated January1868. 1865: Wilmington s population was approximately 30,000. Grace Church was built at the city s limits, within blocks of pasture land.
The original cost for lot & church was $80,000. Design changes included a 2-story annex. Final cost $200,000-210,000.
View from Ninth and West Streets looking toward the chancel end of the sanctuary under construction. Local schools let children out of class so that they could watch the workman raise the tower framework.
Early photo c. 1870 or before From the estate of Delaplaine McDaniel, one of the first trustees
Thomas Dixon (1819-1886) Had lived in Wilmington; Baltimore-based in 1865 Founding member of Baltimore AIA Other Dixon churches with similar design: Centenary Methodist Church in St. Louis 1869 1871 Mount Vernon Place Methodist Church in Baltimore 1870-1872 Grace Methodist Church in Harrisburg 1873-1878 Dixon also designed Grand Opera House in Wilmington dating from 1880 s. Dixon s office later suffered a fire in which all his records were lost.
A comparison of the four churches helps us to identify Dixon s original design qualities. Both Grace & Centenary exhibit façade windows with 5 lancets and a circle within a large Gothic arch. For example, the window tracery on the large façade window at Centenary Church in St. Louis is strikingly similar to Grace, Wilmington. This helps to identify it as being part of Dixon s original plan.
Features include a hall church with 3 façade doors a large façade window. An additional stonework arch reaches above the window and frames a smaller window or plaque. Placement of bell towers vary. Centenary United Methodist Church, St. Louis, MO 1869-71 Grace United Methodist Church, Harrisburg, PA 1873-1878 Mt. Vernon Place United Methodist, Baltimore, MD 1870-1872
Mt.Vernon Place, Baltimore Features include triple arches, side and rear balcony, clerestory windows, and triple banks of pews with a central pulpit. Grace Church, Harrisburg in late 1890 s when it served as the temporary state legislature after Centenary a fire damaged Church, the St. state Louis capitol building Features Features include: include: one a triple central arch arch Grace scheme containing Church, with a the Wilmington recessed organ platform, central niche a raised including chancel lancet with Features include: a triple arch with recessed central niche including 3 lancet windows & lower woodwork; three banks windows, of pews, and and side 2 balconies. side balconies. a raised chancel with a central pulpit; & three banks of pews.
Right: Grace Church, Wilmington looking toward narthex & balcony. This photo taken in 1995 shows the original configuration of pews. Left: Centenary Church, St. Louis, looking toward narthex & rear balcony. Note that the large balcony windows in both churches exhibit the same tracery frame.
Dove relief carving on Church House façade Oak leaf clusters, left and below, from West Street façade Capstone on Ninth Street façade of Annex building reads A.D. 1865
Grace Church, Wilmington Early High Victorian Gothic Of green serpentine sandstone quarried in Chadds Ford with a base course of brown stone from New Brunswick, New Jersey. The façade is on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Grace Church from Ninth Street in 1910 Soot from the use of coal for heat in the city stained the stonework dark by the early 20 th century and would lead to the current deterioration exhibited in the early 21 st century
Grace Church has two towers. The tallest tower, at left, is on Ninth Street. It supports a carillon of 14 bells installed in 1920.
This plaque with vine motif the large façade window reads A Centenary Offering 1866. It commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Methodist church in America.
The parsonage was built in 1890 of the same green serpentine stone that was used in the construction of the church. Known as Bassett Hall, it was converted to an office site for church mission in the 1970 s. In 1998, it was razed to provide space for a community playground. Bassett Hall, c.1997
The present church house was built in 1942 Grace Church purchased the neighboring residence at 903 West Street in 1915 for office and meeting space.
One of two metal dogs inherited from the original 903 West Street residence. According to legend, they were stored during World War II to prevent being requisitioned for the war effort.
Geometric designs and leaf motifs were the predominant elements of the early phase of Gothic Revival reflecting the prevailing Protestant aversion to figurative images that appeared Papist.
The façade window tracery is original to the Thomas Dixon design. The stained glass work dates from the 1870 s and may have been based on Dixon s design.
The trefoil window. Its stained glass style is similar to the large façade window.
Dixon s original apse: a rectangular niche in the central arch with Gothic woodwork and 3 lancet windows The stained glass pattern was of diamonds with a circular medallion of the dove in the upper central window. How they were lit is a question for research & conjecture since the space behind the windows currently is a dark hallway and electricity had not yet been invented.
Two circular stained glass windows in the Ninth Street bell tower were probably designed by the original stained glass artist.
The windows on the Ninth Street side the Upper Room.
In the narthex At left: An original lancet windows with red and blue diamond interlace At right: A lancet windows from the original balcony stairway (no longer extant) with diamond pattern leading using grisaille on translucent white glass framed in a blue border with accents of red and gold. Center: A narrow lancet from narthex
1913-1914 The memorial windows They probably replaced inferior quality windows dating from the 1870 s.
Perry Pictures Inc was established in 1897 in Malden, Conn. The company arranged for photographers to photograph artists work, which they published in monthly magazines. These images became the design sources for local stained glass houses. Christ Knocking at the Door, by Heinrich Hoffman The Light of the World, by Wm. Holman Hunt
1924 Come Unto Me Dedicated February 24, 1924 Designed by H.B. Hankinson, a former Tiffany artist, with figures by Charles Mente, a New York watercolorist One of the largest stained glass windows in U.S. measuring approximately 22 x 26 feet and containing over 18,000 pieces This window was donated by the Gambrill family, a prominent benefactor of the era.
Victorian buildings are a feast for the eye & Grace church contains many sumptuous details. A heating register Detail of apse woodwork The capital of an engaged support column at ceiling level Gold leaf ornaments at ceiling edge
Leaf scroll on pew arm Elegant details in carved wood enhance a narthex door
At right: The Gambrill Window and gold & walnut cross seen through one of the narthex peepholes. Peepholes, set in the narthex at a height convenient for a man, allow ushers to monitor the progress of the service without opening the doors. Until mid-20 th century, ushers wore morning coats to perform their duties.
1949 The sanctuary was renovated by Rambusch of New York to reflect prevailing trends in church design. The renovation included a split chancel configuration with a center altar flanked by a pulpit and lectern.
The 1949 renovation included a blessing inscription in gold leaf on the rear wall. This blessing was retained & framed in the 1995 renovation.
1995 The sanctuary underwent a major renovation designed by Viggo Rambusch, the son of the 1949 designer
The 1995 renovation included a three-step raised platform measuring nearly 25 x 50 feet. All the chancel furniture is movable.
The scope of the renovation included adding a center aisle and canting the pews.
2001 Grace Church added a two-story entrance pavilion on Washington Street, offering a reception area, elevator, new restrooms and a large parlor. A two-story connector was added between the church house and the narthex on West Street. The result is a building designed for beauty, accessibility, and efficiency.
With respect for its rich heritage, Grace Church looks forward and upward toward a promising tomorrow. View of 1865 two-story annex from the skylight of new entrance pavilion