Georgetown
Colorado
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Grace Episcopal Church Georgetown
History
Organized in 1867, Grace Church is the oldest remaining church in Georgetown. Were it not for the great windstorm of 1869 which blew over the unfinished structure, Grace would be the oldest Episcopal church in Colorado. Beginning again, the church was finished in 1870.
Grace was one of several mission churches established by Missionary Bishop Randall in the gold and silver camps of Colorado Territory in Gilpin and Clear Creek Counties. Georgetown and Grace Church prospered. At consecration in May, 1872, the building was well fitted with pews of fine walnut, and other interior woodwork was grained to appear like walnut, some with ebony trim. The congregation had obtained a Hamlin cabinet organ to lead the program of music, an earlier version of the 1885 Hamlin that stands at the left of the pulpit.
In 1877 the Congregation purchased a new pipe organ, an instrument of three hundred pipes constructed by C. Anderson in Denver. Now the oldest operational organ in Colorado, this little instrument is the joy of Georgetown in occasional recital and weekly worship. In 1998 the Organ Historical Society formally accepted the nomination of the organ to the Society's list of historic organs of America.
In 1882 the great stone wall fronting the street and enclosing the steps to the church was constructed. In the same year Mrs. Anson P. Stephens of nearby Lawson painted and presented to Grace Church the three-panel reredos above the altar. The child Jesus holds the center position above a crown which caps the altar cross. St. Paul stands to the left, and St. John the Evangelist stands to the right.
With few alterations the church is little changed from these years of Georgetown's high prosperity in the 1870's and 1880's. Gas lights were installed in 1889 to be replaced with electric lights in 1913, and a boiler replaced the coal stoves after WWII. The altar is now illuminated from above, with the light enclosed in a Bishop's miter crafted by the late Stig Gusterman.
The Snetzer building adjacent to the church just down the hill was purchased by the congregation five years ago. Interior rehabilitation gave us Grace Hall on the ground floor with apartments at the rear and above. Exterior rehabilitation was recently completed as well.
Organized in 1867, Grace Church is the oldest remaining church in Georgetown. Were it not for the great windstorm of 1869 which blew over the unfinished structure, Grace would be the oldest Episcopal church in Colorado. Beginning again, the church was finished in 1870.
Grace was one of several mission churches established by Missionary Bishop Randall in the gold and silver camps of Colorado Territory in Gilpin and Clear Creek Counties. Georgetown and Grace Church prospered. At consecration in May, 1872, the building was well fitted with pews of fine walnut, and other interior woodwork was grained to appear like walnut, some with ebony trim. The congregation had obtained a Hamlin cabinet organ to lead the program of music, an earlier version of the 1885 Hamlin that stands at the left of the pulpit.
In 1877 the Congregation purchased a new pipe organ, an instrument of three hundred pipes constructed by C. Anderson in Denver. Now the oldest operational organ in Colorado, this little instrument is the joy of Georgetown in occasional recital and weekly worship. In 1998 the Organ Historical Society formally accepted the nomination of the organ to the Society's list of historic organs of America.
In 1882 the great stone wall fronting the street and enclosing the steps to the church was constructed. In the same year Mrs. Anson P. Stephens of nearby Lawson painted and presented to Grace Church the three-panel reredos above the altar. The child Jesus holds the center position above a crown which caps the altar cross. St. Paul stands to the left, and St. John the Evangelist stands to the right.
With few alterations the church is little changed from these years of Georgetown's high prosperity in the 1870's and 1880's. Gas lights were installed in 1889 to be replaced with electric lights in 1913, and a boiler replaced the coal stoves after WWII. The altar is now illuminated from above, with the light enclosed in a Bishop's miter crafted by the late Stig Gusterman.
The Snetzer building adjacent to the church just down the hill was purchased by the congregation five years ago. Interior rehabilitation gave us Grace Hall on the ground floor with apartments at the rear and above. Exterior rehabilitation was recently completed as well.