Christ Church Cathedral - Houston, TX, USA - Cathedrals on Waymarking.com

Founded on March 16, 1839, Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral church for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. It is Houston's only religious congregation still worshiping on its original site from the days when Houston was the capital of the Republic of Texas. Many Episcopal churches in Houston and the surrounding area were founded as missions of Christ Church, such as the Trinity Church which was founded in 1893.

The architects of the Cathedral were J. Arthur Tempest and Silas McBee, both parishioners of the Church. The building is decorated with intricate brickwork molded into arches and inset crosses. The walls are formed into stepped parapets with windows of beautiful stained glass.

Below is brief history, per the Texas Historical Marker at the site: (visit link)

"[Christ Church Cathedral is] 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."

A even more detailed history of the church can be found at: (visit link)

Address: 1117 Texas Avenue Houston, TX 77002-3183 USA Religious affiliation: Episcopal Date founded or constructed: March 16, 1839 Web site: [Web Link]

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