Grace Episcopal Church
Port Lavaca, Calhoun County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Records indicate Episcopal worship services were held in Lavaca prior to the 1850s. By 1852 the Rev. Henry N. Pierce, rector of Christ Church in Matagorda, periodically came to conduct services here. The Rev. C. S. Hedges, with funding made possible by an Ohio benefactor, organized Grace Church in 1853. Deadly yellow fever epidemics in 1853 and 1855 devastated the church and the town. In 1874 the bishop ordered the church building moved to Cuero to serve a larger population. Grace Church survived, however, and a second building was secured in 1887. Destroyed by a hurricane in 1945, it was rebuilt by 1949. Grace Church regained parish status in 1951, and additional facilities were built to meet the church's needs in the following decades. (1998) Incise on back: Erected by Calhoun County Historical Commission; George Fred Rhodes, Chairman
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Episcopalians were worshipping in the port town of Lavaca before 1850, and in 1853 the Rev. C. S. Hedges organized Grace Church with help from an Ohio benefactor. Deadly yellow fever epidemics soon devastated the young congregation, and hurricanes would later destroy its buildings more than once. Yet the church rebuilt each time, regaining full parish status in 1951 and remaining a fixture of Port Lavaca life.
Why it matters
Grace Church's repeated recovery from epidemic and storm captures the tenacity of frontier Gulf Coast communities, where faith institutions anchored towns through disaster.
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Related people
- · Rev. C. S. Hedges
- · Rev. Henry N. Pierce
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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