Built 1857 Opened 1857 Added to NRHP 29 September 1980 | Area less than one acre NRHP Reference # 80001774 Function Church | |
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Address St Francisville, LA 70775, USA Architectural style Gothic Revival architecture Similar Grace Episcopal Church, Raspberry Baptist Church, St Mary of False River, Locust Grove State Hist, United Methodist Church | ||
St. Mary's Episcopal Church is a historic church building in Weyanoke, Louisiana.
St. Mary's Episcopal Church was built in 1857 to serve approximately 20 plantation families in the remote Tunica area north of St. Francisville, Louisiana. The design is attributed to New York architect Frank Wills, a prominent 19th century proponent of the Gothic Revival. Wills' belief in the English Country church as the ideal model for American Episcopal congregations can be clearly seen in the design of St. Mary's. Two other churches by Wills are known in the region, Christ Church in Napoleonville, Louisiana and the Chapel of the Cross near Madison, Mississippi. In 1858 the church was consecrated by Bishop (later Confederate General) Leonidas Polk, the "Fighting Bishop" of Civil War fame. The church was built on the Old East Tunica Road on 5 acres donated by Sarah Mulford, The title description is written "per aversionem" so that the boundaries cannot be identified exactly. In 1928 State Highway 66 was built about 1/2 mile west of the church and the old road was abandoned, leaving the church with no vehicular access, except by private farm roads. The church was deconsecrated in 1947, and today stands empty, gradually being overtaken by the surrounding forest, which has completely overgrown the graveyard north of the church and the old roadway. St. Mary's Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 29, 1980.