Grace Episcopal Church and Guild Hall - Port Orange, FL - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

"One of the historic treasures of our community, the chapel of Grace Church was constructed in 1893 according to the "carpenter gothic" building plans used frequently in that era. Native cypress and heart pine form the fiber of the structure. The building's windows were originally filled with shaded and clear glass. These were later replaced (front and rear) near the turn of the 19th to 20th century when major building restoration was accomplished, the side memorial windows, crafted by Willet Studios, were added."

"The structure was used as the primary worship space for a struggling congregation from 1893 through 1984. The growth of both parish and community in the latter decades of the 20th century led to construction of the adjacent worship center and, more recently, the Parish Life Center at the rear of the campus. The chapel currently houses weekday worship services and is the site for numerous weddings and funerals expecting less than 75 persons in attendance." The following additional information is from a 33-page booklet titled Grace Episcopal Church History:

"On December 20, 1893, the bishop visited the beautiful new church in Port Orange. The Rev. C.W. Arnold read the service and the bishop preached and confirmed five persons. The new church was largely made possible by the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Charles H. Meeker, but all communicants had a part in the project with gifts of money and services. Dr. Meeker from Rahway, New Jersey, had at one time owned most of the land which is now the city of Port Orange. His home still stands at the corner of Meeker Place and Riverside. On November 3, 1892, Dr. Charles H. Meeker and his wife, Mary E. Meeker, conveyed to the diocese a section of land to be used for the building of a church. The land was a lot 90 x 300 feet on the southwest corner of Church Street and Ridgewood Avenue. The architecture of the church, built in 1893, is known as Florida Gothic and is similar to many of the mission churches built at that time. The building is 65 feet long and 33 feet wide built of white board and batten frame, plain glass windows then, and a tall bell tower with a wooden cross on top. The bell and hanger were ordered from Europe by the Meekers and given to the church. The pews were hand sawed, cut, and built by the parishioners. The ladies of the parish made the bright red, horse-hair padded cushions for the pews. The kneelers were added in 1951."

"Ridgewood Avenue was widened between 1957 and 1961 to make it four lanes and at that time both of the buildings were moved. The church was moved back 100 feet and the parish hall was moved across Church Street and behind the church."

"A highlight of the [Rev. Paul] Thompson tenure was the preservation and restoration program during the early 1970s. In 1973, the ten side windows of plain bottle glass were removed and replaced with stained and leaded glass depicting the life of Christ. In the place where the stove had once been, a baptistry window was installed in stained glass and the baptistry light from St. Mary's was hung. In the narthex is a beautiful and different stained-glass window, a gift of the Najarian family with the writing in Armenian."