Christ's Church

Christ Church is an Episcopal church located at 22-26 N. 3rd Street between Market and Arch Streets in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the first Protestant Episcopal church in the United States, Christ Church is the birthplace of the American Episcopal Church.

Christ Church was founded in 1695 by members of the Church of England, who built a small wooden church on the site by the next year. When the congregation outgrew this structure some twenty years later, they decided to erect a new church, the most sumptuous in the colonies. The main body of the church was constructed between 1727 and 1744, and the steeple was added in 1754, making it the tallest building in North America, at 60 meters. Christ Church is considered one of the nation's most beautiful surviving 18th-century structures, a monument to colonial craftsmanship and a handsome example of Georgian architecture. It features a symmetrical, classical façade with arched windows and a simple yet elegant interior with fluted columns and wooden pews. The baptismal font in which William Penn was baptized is still in use at Christ Church; it was sent to Philadelphia in 1697 from All Hallows by the Tower in London.

Christ's Church

Photo 130, Nov 2003

Christ's Church

Photo 131, Nov 2003

Christ's Church

Photo 132, Nov 2003