You are here

ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND PARISH HALL

-A A +A
1856, Richard Upjohn; Andrew McCleery, master builder. 106 W. Church St.
  • (Alexander Heilner)
  • View of north front and east side (Photograph by Catherine C. Lavoie)
  • Interior, looking south (Photograph by Catherine C. Lavoie)
  • (Alexander Heilner)
  • (Alexander Heilner)

Designed by nationally renowned Upjohn and erected by McCleery, this Gothic Revival church reflects Frederick’s emergence as a refined urban center. It was one of eight significant churches enlarged or rebuilt during the mid-nineteenth century in an apparent competition among local congregations for the most sophisticated design. According to historian Diane Shaw in Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture (1995), church construction played a critical role in the architectural transformation of Frederick from small town to urban center. Likewise, the selection of Upjohn, perhaps the nation’s foremost proponent of Gothic Revival, heralds an enlightened perspective beyond this once-rural community. Its prominence as a city landmark was further guaranteed by its location in an area newly defined by upscale residences, facing Court Square.

In its restrained yet archetypal interpretation of Gothic Revival, asymmetry, and attention to proportion and scaling, All Saints is quintessential Upjohn. Defining features include its steeply pitched roof, buttresses, lancet bays, entrance tower, and soaring octagonal spire. The interior features an open truss-work ceiling and side aisles separated by pointed-arched arcades.

The earlier church (1813–1814; 23 N. Court), now the parish hall, lies just around the corner. It was built by Henry McCleery, the father of the new church’s builder, Andrew McCleery. The finely detailed classical building is distinguished by its pedimented gable front, Palladian windows, semicircular transoms, and stuccoed finish.

References

Pierson, William H., Jr. American Buildings and Their Architects; Technology and the Picturesque, The Corporate and the Early Gothic Styles. New York: Doubleday, 1978.

Shaw, Diane. “Building an Urban Identity: The Clustered Spires of Frederick, Maryland.” Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture 5 (1995): 55-69.

Williams, Peter W. Houses of God; Region, Religion, and Architecture in the United States. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1997.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie
×

Data

Timeline

  • 1856

    Built

What's Nearby

Citation

Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie, "ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND PARISH HALL", [Frederick, Maryland], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MD-01-WM3.

Print Source

Buildings of Maryland, Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2022, 336-337.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,