The first Episcopal services in Augusta were held in 1763, though the first church was not constructed until 1841. As the congregation grew, fundraising for a new and larger church began in 1884. The church was completed in 1886.The St. Marks' Window, located over the altar of the original church, was moved to the new church.
The church was given a rough granite exterior with a heavy buttressed bell tower on the side of the nave with a very medieval looking wood Gothic entry door. The appearance at the door is of a very thick stone wall, created by the deep granite door frame. Atop is a somewhat subdued pyramidal spire compared to many in the state.
The bells in the tower were given to the church in memory of Ellen Kling in 1925. A carillon of eleven bells cast by Meneely & Co., weighing over 12,000 pounds, was installed in the bell tower, together with the service bell from the original church. These bells have recently been restored as a gift in memory of the Dearborn family.
St. Mark's Episcopal Church
St. Mark's Episcopal Church is constructed of quarry faced granite with slate roofs and wooden trim. Designed in the Gothic style, the windows are either lancet arched or square headed with ogee-shaped tracery. Similar detailing is used for the small wooden porticos over the entrances to the vestry, the chapel and the undercroft. The paneled doors are also lancet arched.
The interior of the church has been unaltered since its construction. Large marble columns with stone palm leaf capitals support lancet arched arcading flanking the nave. Separating the nave from the chancel, at the east end, and the nave from the chapel at the west end, are screens carved with openwork Gothic tracery. The pulpit is paneled wood with a hand-wrought copper railing shaped in a floral motif. The ceiling of the chancel is painted with original stenciling. A stained glass, window from the previous church building which was located nearby has Been placed within the present church behind the choir stalls.
St. Mark's Episcopal Church is a distinguished example of late Victorian Gothic architecture executed in rough cut granite and drawing heavily on English models. No other church in the area conveys a similar rusticity and none has a more carefully worked interior.
The architect for St. Mark's was the distinguished Richard M. Upjohn, son of the even more famous Richard Upjohn. Born in England shortly before his father emigrated to the United States, young Upjohn entered his father's office as a draughtsman at the age of 18 in 1851. Following his father's death in 1878, he practiced independently in New York. His most famous commission without doubt was the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford.
From the NRHP nomination form