Dorchester Illustration 2689 St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
The first service at St. Mary’s as an organized parish was held in Lyceum Hall on Aug. 23, 1847. A gift of land on Bowdoin Street at the corner of Topliff Street allowed the parishioners to build a church, which was completed in September 1849. The top image in today’s illustration is a drawing of that building shown on the 1850 map of Dorchester.
St. Mary’s became one of the strongest and most prosperous parishes in the Diocese outside of Boston. The building was enlarged in the 1860s, and in 1869 a tower with a bell was blown down but never rebuilt. The 1898 history of the church stated that the church experienced challenges in its finances, especially due to “the unexpected social results of the annexation of Dorchester to Boston — the centralization of all interests in the city proper, the removal of many wealthy citizens to the city and effects of the financial crisis following the great fire in Boston in 1872 [which] greatly affected the fortunes of the church.” However they weathered their challenges.
Following a fire that destroyed the church in 1887, the congregation was able to acquire land on Cushing Avenue overlooking the Old Dorchester North Burying Ground. Henry Vaughan designed a new church in the Jacobethan Revival style, where the first service was celebrated on Dec. 25, 1888. The lower image in today’s illustration shows the church in the early years of the 20th century. The church contains an important collection of stained glass windows by Tiffany Studios, Wilbur H. Burnham, Harry E. Goodhue, and Charles J. Connick. The church was enlarged, and a parish house was added in 1907.