- St. John's Episcopal Church (Cleveland, Ohio)
Infobox nrhp
name = St. John's Episcopal Church
nrhp_type =
locmapin = Ohio
caption =
location = 2600 Church Street, Ohio City, Cleveland, OH
lat_degrees = 41 | lat_minutes = 29 | lat_seconds = 24 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 81 | long_minutes = 42 | long_seconds = 30 | long_direction = W
area =
built = 1836-1838
architect =Hezekiah Eldridge
architecture = Gothic Revival
designated =
added =February 23 ,1973 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-07-27|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Private
refnum = 73001418cite web|url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/OH/Cuyahoga/state6.html|title=National Register of Historical Places - OHIO (OH), Cuyahoga County|accessdate=2008-07-27] The St. John's Episcopal Church is located at 2600 Church Street in the Ohio City neighborhood ofCleveland, Ohio . St. John's is the oldest consecrated building in Cuyahoga county. This stonegothic revival church building was designed byHezekiah Eldridge and built beginning in 1836 and was completed 1838. [http://ech.case.edu/timeline.html] Eldridge was probably familiar withJohn Henry Hopkins ' "An Essay on Gothic Architecture", the first book on Gothicecclesiastical architecture to be published in the United States. St. John's is a good representative of a small group of American churches inspired by Hopkins' book.On November 9, 1816, a group of Episcopalians met in the log home of Phineas Shepard on the Cleveland's west side at what is now West 25th Street and Detroit Avenue, to organize what was to become Trinity Parish. The
parish is the site of the original Episcopal in Cleveland. In 1825, east side members moved the original parish, namedTrinity from Ohio City, to a site nearPublic Square . West side members remained in Ohio City, naming the new parish St. John's.Trinity Cathedral is now the seat of the
Episcopal Diocese of Ohio . [http://www.trinitycleveland.org/about/history.html] St. John's was also the mother church to several of the west side parishes.In 1837 the was Ohio City Directory described the church as follows, "The Episcopal Church, which is not yet finished, is built of hammered stone, and has a lofty steeple. Its style of architecture is Gothic, resembling that of the ancient and venerable
Cathedral . This building, when finished, will be one of the best of the kind in the western country, and may be considered as an ornament to the young city". [http://academic.csuohio.edu/clevelandhistory/olha/documents/OHIOCITYc.htm]This "Gothicized meeting house" has been rebuilt twice, once after a fire in the 1880's and once after a
tornado in 1953. The present plan, with neither a centralaisle nor anapse , is therefore similar to the original plan. At one time the church was more elaborate than it is today, the churchpinnacles no longer exist. St, John's was known as "Station Hope" on theUnderground Railroad .The original bell (1846) now is housed in the west side of the
narthex , due to weakening of the steeple. Next to the church stands the frame gothic revivalParish Hall is circa (1875).An Episcopal parish continues to worship in this space.
Noted members
*
William B. Castle (Cleveland Mayor) was a long time member of theVestry and Senior Warden of this church. There is a large historic marker in his honor, on the eastern wall of the church.*
Mark Hanna was anindustrialist and Republicanpolitician from Cleveland.*Phineas Shepard early settler and Pensioner Revolutionary War [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/colonial/census/1840/1840oh_qt.html]
*
Hezekiah Eldridge builder, charter member and was a member of the Vestry.References
* [http://www.trinitycleveland.org/about/history.html History of Trinity parish, Cleveland]
* [http://urban.csuohio.edu/sacredlandmarks/csl/gothic.html Gothic Processional Structure]
* [http://www.clevelandrestoration.org/Events/eventscalendar.htm Underground Railroad Tour of Cleveland]
* [http://www.aaheritagetrail.com/toursite_01.html African American Heritage Trail, St. John's Episcopal Church]
* [http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/landmark/landlist.htm Designated Cleveland Landmarks]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage History of St. John's Church]
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