Episcopal Church of the Messiah - Gonzales, TX - Anglican and Episcopal Churches on Waymarking.com

"Services were first held in private homes and in public buildings. Soon the vestry requested that south half block between St. Louis and St. Lawrence Streets, East of Hamilton, be leased to the Episcopalians in the same manner that land had been eased to other churches. Permission was granted by the city for a lease on this land for 99 years at the cost of $1. The church is in its 2nd hundred year lease for the same price. By 1855, the church was listed as a parish in union with the Diocese of Texas.  

The present church building was erected in 1880-81, and consecrated in 1882. The Church of the Messiah is the oldest church building in Gonzales, and is believed to be the oldest public building in the city used continuously for its original purpose. The church building is of wood construction, with coupled stone foundation.  Much of it is built with lumber and timbers hauled from the Gulf Coast and Florida by ox-cart.  The finished wood is of rare Guadalupe walnut, harvested from the local river bottoms. Hand wrought structural iron supports the arches throughout the church, one of the earliest uses of this kind of support in the area.  The stained glass windows in the nave (where the congregation sits) are original to the church, dating from the mid 1800's are quite rare."