Written by Deborah Burst
Algiers, Holy Name of Mary Church
On the banks of the Mississippi River, a quick ferry ride across from the Crescent City’s skyline, Algiers Point is the second oldest neighborhood in New Orleans. Since 1848, the Holy Name of Mary parishioners have long held a great affection for a church rich in history and tradition.
Throughout the community’s 260-year-old history, residents have shown a resounding resilience, including their battle against a devastating fire in 1895. Fire fighters attacked wind driven flames by pumping water from the Mississippi River while the community formed “bucket brigades,” dousing small fires and steamy rooftops. After the smoke cleared, a blackened forest of chimneys stood amid the rubble leaving more than two hundred families homeless. The church was spared, and the parish came to the aid of their beloved neighbors using the Holy Name of Mary School as a shelter distributing food, clothing and household goods.
While the original 1848 wooden structure was replaced by a Gothic design, damage from the 1915 hurricane along with termite and foundation problems resulted in a 1927 dismantling. The present church was built on the same site in a Gothic Revival pattern. It occupies an entire block bordering Eliza and Olivier Streets and was dedicated on November 25, 1929.
Heavily spired altars and communion railing are artifacts from the old church as well as the two “rose” stained glass windows positioned in the entranceway and above the main altar. Today the church is still very busy serving its community and offers its fine acoustics to orchestras.
Covington, Christ Episcopal Chapel
A sandy cypress forest nudges its way along the winding banks of the Bogue Falaya River, the setting for the Christ Episcopal Chapel. The Chapel was founded in the spring of 1846 under the guiding hands of a few hard working people of modest means. They began with construction pledges that ranged between two and ten dollars, then two generous donations brought them to their ambitious goal of $500. Jonathan Arthur, a native of London, England, designed and built the wood frame church along the lines of the small Georgian churches found in England. The initial cost of the church including a pulpit and altar was $1350.00.
A simpler beauty compared to the more ornate cathedrals, it began with a construct of yellow pine lumber and tongue and groove floors, with walls and ceilings lathed and plastered. Sixteen pews complete with panel doors once granted a reserved seat for family and friends. Hanging above the pews are eight flags representing the historic sovereignties inside the West Florida territory that once reigned over Covington. What was once the slave loft occupies the upper deck against the back wall of the church. A plain white railing borders a narrow second story space accessible only by a ladder inside the downstairs bell tower room. The slaves climbed up the ladder through an attic style opening that led to the balcony above.
There have been restorations over the years, but the historic chapel served as the main house of worship until a larger brick church was built in 1967. The Chapel still offers morning and evening prayer along with Sunday service.
New Orleans, Christ Church Cathedral
More than two centuries ago the Episcopal denomination became the first non-Roman Catholic congregation in the entire Louisiana Purchase Territory. Philander Chase, a young priest from Poughkeepsie, New York, conducted the first Christ Church service—a morning prayer service on November 17, 1805, in the Cabildo.
Thus began a legacy of four distinct forms of Christ Church architecture, growing and moving with the tide of progress inside the city of New Orleans. The first church, a brick, octagonal shape crowned with a domed roof and cupola, took residence on the riverside corner of Canal and Bourbon streets. As the parish continued to flourish a new Greek Temple style church replaced the older one, but by 1847 the church was too small, and another was built on a new site of Canal and Dauphine that remained there for forty years.
By the late nineteenth century, many of its parishioners lived in the Garden District, so the fourth and current home of Christ Church Cathedral moved to St. Charles Avenue and Sixth Street. Soon after, the church became a cathedral and the chapel was built by a generous benefactor in memory of her husband. Today, the Chapel and Cathedral stand side by side with nearly one hundred stained glass windows.
0 Comments