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Saint Paul's Episcopal Church - National Historic Site
Photo and description courtesy of Maryland Historical Trust
This photo was taken from a book entitled Inventory of Historic Sites in Caroline County, which was based on a historic site survey conducted by Michael Bourne, Architectural Consultant, and published in 1980 by the Maryland Historical Trust. The photos and descriptions are used with their permission.

After scanning, the quality of some of the photos was not quite what I'd like them to be, but I hope you enjoy seeing them anyway.
ST. PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH   1853
Hillsboro
Public

        St. Paul's Parish was formed in 1748 by act of the Maryland Assembly.  The first church was located in Queen Anne's County, but in 1768 a new church was built on this site on Tuchahoe Creek.  Rev. William Goldsborough was assigned to the parish in 1842 and under his leadership it raised enough money between 1850 and 1853 to build the present church.  The church is a small board and batten Gothic Revival building with a design possibly inspired by Richard Upjohn's 1852 book of plans and sketches called Upjohn's Rural Architecture.  However, also at this time, the Ecclesiological Society in England was encouraging Gothic Revival as the only proper style to use for a church.  The Society published books of "acceptable" designs, so that parishes could build "correct" churches without the expense of architects.  These ideas and books crossed the ocean and had a profound effect on American church architecture.


        Thus, whatever its exact origins, St. Paul's Church is valuable as an example of the attractive and practical (inexpensive and not beyond the capabilities of local craftsmen) building that could be executed from published plans.
 
Last Updated: January 2021