Christ Church, Owensville)

AA-221 Christ Church, West River, (Christ Church, Owensville)

Architectural Survey File

This is the architectural survey file for this MIHP record. The survey file is organized reverse- chronological (that is, with the latest material on top). It contains all MIHP inventory forms, National Register nomination forms, determinations of eligibility (DOE) forms, and accompanying documentation such as photographs and maps.

Users should be aware that additional undigitized material about this property may be found in on-site architectural reports, copies of HABS/HAER or other documentation, drawings, and the “vertical files” at the MHT Library in Crownsville. The vertical files may include newspaper clippings, field notes, draft versions of forms and architectural reports, photographs, maps, and drawings. Researchers who need a thorough understanding of this property should plan to visit the MHT Library as part of their research project; look at the MHT web site (mht.maryland.gov) for details about how to make an appointment.

All material is property of the Maryland Historical Trust.

Last Updated: 06-11-2004 AA-221

~TA ·1 t.' form 10-10(1 UtHTFD STATf:S l>Ff'AR-!Mf:NT or Tl-i[ JNTERIOJ~ (July 196'! l NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ~arylancl COUNTY- I NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Anne Arundel INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY 1----E_N_T_R_Y_N_U_M_B_E_R______r QAT=--- (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) 1 ri-:-1----~-~~------~~~~-~--~~---~'-..-~-~------~------1 ~:O~:ON ------! I Christ Church IA,:,[). ;;-;-,--;_;-~s-,-a~c:~ ------·~ --~---- _1 Ch:Li~t Chu_:rch, West River; Christ Church, Owensville l_: LOCATlO~N_:______--1 ~-~Rf:.ET ANC NUMBER: : Owensville Road (Maryland Route 255) -~~------!

J~;;_:~:~le ______.._:-=;o~;~E_..i(_c_o_uN_T_~_-n_n_e_A_r_u_n_d_e_l____ .__J:.....:;~...:~;..;03::....E_1 3. CLASSIFICATION . r--~-- - -CA l EGO RY . ------~..:FRS~I-~------1 ACCESSIBLE STATUS TO THE PUBLIC z (ChPck One) ~- ::J o .. tnct '~ Building 1-J p:~c---Fu~blic Acquisition: -- 13t Occupied Yes: 0 ; Sote r-1 Structure [}!j Private C:-1 In Process 0 Unoccupied [)t Restricted Unrestricted Cl Ob1ect 0 Both I 0 Being Considered 0 Preserva11on work 1::1 t in progress 0 No u PRESENT USE {Check One or A1ore n:_.. Appropriate)

:::> r:::1 Agricultural L-:-1 Government L:J Pork 0 Transportation 0 Comments a::: L_l Commercio I [] Industrial I] Private Residence D Other (Specify) I- Cl Educational LI Military l~ Religious ------D Entertainment D Museum D Scientific z !.4. OWNER OF PROPERTY____ OWNER'S NAME: ·------~~- ..."' Vestry of Christ Church ~ > w ------·· ------·--Pl ~ w s~~~~;r;iN{~~ER~oad (Maryland Route 255) - ----~ C~~:~ T;wi~er ------~-~---· ------~--- rT~T_,_._M_a_ry..._.:::c_l_a_n_d____ li__._.=c-=-oo_i:_ ~ 24 [5:-LoCATION-OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION ___ -___j~~:= · COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC: ...,...-.- Anne Arundel County Courthouse §i8

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c~~~:;~w;is J STATE Maryland /-ifc-f I ______,______1---- PRESENTATION ~_EXISTING SUR_Y_E_Y_S______------·------< ITITLE OF SURVEY: "'z ! ... I u Maryland Register of_ _!!_~_?to_r:_ic Site:_§ a_I1cl__Landmci~!

.______---~~~~~e_'.1______~ U_na~t~~d______J __l _M_o_ve_d ___l_.X_O_ri_gi_na_l_S_ir_e __--l DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APP~ARANCE

Christ Church is located on the north side of the Owens ville Road (Maryland Route 255) which connects Owensville and Galesville, Maryland.

A small, board and batten church, this wooden structure has a long, narrow nave; small, deep chancel; and an entrance porch on the south side. The altar faces the west. The sharply-pointed, gabled entrance porch with its pointed archway is paralleled by a slightly bell-cast, pointed gable sacristy of about the same size. Behind the sacristy is a tall, narrow bell tower with an open belfry. The pointed arches of this belfry support a modified brooch spire roofed with fish-scale shingling. Small rectangular window openings frame stained glass lancet windows. There are three similar lancets above the altar in the east wall m of the chancel. The west entrance forms a passageway to a similar board and batten parish hall, which runs at m right angles to the main church. This parish hall may be recent, although it blends perfectly with the style of z the church.

The rather stark interior of the church has a central aisle, 'poppy headed' pews, and dark wood cross trussing in the ceiling.

There is a large churchyard to the north of the church.

Although sometimes reputed to be by the noted church archi tect, Richard Upjohn, Christ Church was at least built from 0 designs offered by his Rural Architecture (1852). This z book 'gave' architect-designed plans for rural parishes, with the result that some of the finest 'Upjohn churches' are these small board and batten structures of rural parishes (e.g., Brunswick, Maine; Warsaw, New York; and at the Hannah More School in Baltimore County). They represent America's own version of the 'Parish Perpendicular.' In a very good state of preservation in which the 19th-century feeling has been retained, Christ Church was built according to Ecclesiological principles with a long, narrow, and high nave, and a deep chancel--the hallmark of Upjohn's ecclesi astical work for Episcopal churches. Upjohn treated other Protestant denominations differently .

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(,£•'-!• AA-221 t'i· SIGNIFICANCE

PER10D (Check OnC' or More ns Approprintc) [_I Pro-Column1an I I 16th Century I [ 18th Century ·"[ I 20th Crnt11r y I I 15th Contu1 y I I l /tl1 ( cr1tury I}{ l?t/1 Crr1l11ry 1------· ·---- - . ------·-·----···------l SPECIFIC OATE(SJ (If Applicublt• unclK11ow11J 1869 AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check Une or More"·' Approprintf-) :=-_-1 Urban Planning Aber iginal r:::t Education [J Political 0 Prehistoric CJ Engineering :kl Religion 1 Phi. LJ Other (Spcci f\·) 0 Historic 0 Indus try losophy 0 Agriculture 0 Invention J~] Science [X Architecture [J Landscape 1· 1 Sculpture

[J Art Architecture I ! Socia I/Human~

0 Commerce ! I Literature i far 1un [] Communications I Mi I itary I I T hroter Conservation 1 [J 1· 1 Music 1 Transportation ·- STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The connection between Christ Church, Owensville, and Richard Upjohn (1802-1878), the noted American architect, gives this Anne Arundel County, Maryland, parish more than local significance. z 0 Upjohn, born in England, came to the United States in 1829 and set up architectural practice in New Bedford, Massachu setts. His first building was Symphony House (1833) in Bangor, Maine. Five years later, Upjohn had moved to New York City and was working on Trinity Church (1839-1846) on Wall Street. Modeled on English Gothic examples, Trin ity Church inaugurated a new departure in the American Gothic Revival style. Upjohn's numerous churches and resi dences located from New England to North Carolina estab z lished his role in 19th-century American architectural history. w The significance of Upjohn's contribution to American archi w tecture was expanded by his architectural books, such as Rural Architecture (1852). Groups like Christ Church parish or individuals could choose a design from a book instead of hiring an architect to erect a church following Upjohn's plans. Through this "borrowing" of designs, Upjohn's architectural influence spread.

The Upjohn-style church in Owensville, Maryland, was built through the generosity o·f Mrs. Ellen Hall McCaleb Burwell, in memory of her two children, one of whom died in a sleighing accident and one from yellow fever.

Christ Church, created as an independent parish in 1862, occupies the site of an earlier chapel of ease of its "mother" parish, St. James-the-Less.

I I L___------~---_J AA-221 --~------·-·---- 19... MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES ----- Bridgman, Mrs. E.W., Jr. "Christ Church, -~:~-~--~~~:-~·: Mary l-a-na1 " n.d. Files of the Maryland Histor cal Tr~st, Annapolis.

Bridgwater, William and Kurtz, Seymour, eds. The Columbia Encyclopedia. 3rd ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1967.

Land Records, Anne Arundel County Courthouse, Annapolis, Md. [see continuation ·sheet]

-~------~--- 10 •... ~J=_OGRAP_~~CAL., [)~T-~

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CORNER LATITUDC LONG! 1uu1: I_ A 11 ·1 Lltll l (.'f~ GI I I! t 1 \ ,______-·------Degrees Minutes Seconds lJe~ees Minutes Seconds Dcgrcc5 Minutes Seconds Degree!> M1nute5 Second~ I NW 380 51· 14. 160 35. 52- 0 0 NE 38 ° 51. 14 • 35· 42· SE 38° 51· 06. 35· 42· I 0 0 I 1_ _,.,s.!.!..w___,'---3.._.8..__ _,_S...,J_•__.0....,6..,_.. --=--7L...:6..,_ __3,_5,_·_5~2_·__.:___.:______-'------J APPROXIMATE ACRE AGE 0 F NOMIN-~~~-='- ~~()_P--=~ T_v_, ____ J_§__ C!_Q_r_e_$. ______------! 1LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPE_~~--~VERLAPPl_N_G ~~-':_~E 0-~--~-~U~T-~~ou~_?_~-~~~~------..----.-I STATE.: CODE COUNTY C<'l>f 1 f------STATE~ CODE COUNTY

STATt: COD[ COUNTY z

STATE: CODE COUN1Y: COl"I -i ;::o nt. FORM PREPARED BY c: NAME AND Tl TL E: Nancy Miller, Historian, and William Morgan n ---~ ------ORUANILAllON -i Maryland Historical Trust ~------STREET AND NUMBER: 0 2525 Riva Road z CITY OR TOWN: STATE------·-----·-··---·------·BT· -CUl•f···- ·- -- Annapolis Maryland 2:..::1:....4=..:0:<..:l=------'---=2:.....:4,__--1 \12. STATE LIAISON OFFICER cERTlFlCA_·-_1l_O_N. __-_-_~ ___N_A_T_IO_N_A_L_REGISTER VERIFICATION

As the desi12-nated State Lii.ison OfficPr for llw Na I hereby certify that this property is included in till' tional Historic Preservation Act of l'Jh(, (Public Law Nationa I h~egister. 89-C)CiS), I hereby nominalf' this propPrty for 1nclusiun

in the Nationa I Re~ister and c<'rt ify th<1t it has b<'en evaluated according to th<' criteria nnd procedures set forth by th<' National Park Servi< e. ·1 he rt·commt•ndt'd Chief. Office ol Archeology a11cl f/i,;/oric Prt.,,·,·rvo1fll•t1 level of Rignificancc of this non11nat1011 is: State i}d Local I I

l)atc ------

ATTEST:

Tu~ State Liaison Officer for

Maryland Keeper of Tl1n Nationill R•·1!is/c•r

Datt· l1ate ------

GP 0 9 O 1 .. O e 1 AA-221 Form 10-300a UNllc&J STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE (July 1969) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Maryland NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTY Anne' Arundel INVENTORY · NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY ~-- ENTRY NUMBCR -1-·D-A_T_E__ --< (Continuation Sheet) I (Number 1111 entrle11)

Christ Church

9. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENr.Es, continued

Stanton, Phoebe B. The Gothic Revival and American Church Architecture An Episode in Taste 1840-1856. Baltimore: the Johns Hopkins Press, 1968.

Upjohn, Everard M. Richard Upjohn, Architect and Churchman. New York: Columbia University Press.

Upjohn, Richard. Rural Architecture. 1852. AA-221 -;.< l.)C:.t-'l"\n l IVit:.l~ i Ur J Ht:. Jl~ l t:.K1Uh'. .<~ GEOLOGICAL su~''EY AA-221 Form 10-301 u ..:D STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE (July 1969) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Maryland

COUNTY/' HATIOHAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Anne Arundel

PROPERTY MAP FORM ' FOR NPS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMBER (Type all entries - attach to or enclose with map) I DATE I z 11• •.a+Me··· .. . :<.·: ..• .. 0 COMMON: Christ Church AND/oR H1sToR1c: Christ Church, West River; Christ Church. Owensville :.;:· ·• 1- t2~ Lot"TJ~.··: > .LJ .... . ····.:··•:• .... ····:··· ( < .:. .••\{•/\.' . . STREET AND NUMBER: u OWensville Road (Maryland Route 255) ------·----- ::> CITY 01< TOWN: 0:::: OWensville I- STATE: I CODE I COUNTY: I CODE Maryland Anne VI I 24 I Arundel I 003 :,·• .· z 13. MAP REFE:RfNCE l SOURCE: USGS 7.5 minute map; Deale Quadrangle w SCALE: 1: 24 000 DATE: 1957 w . f4.·· REQUIREMENTS .· VI' TO BE INCLUDED ON ALL MAPS '. 1. Property broundories where required. 2. North arrow. 3. Latitude and longitude reference.

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I: ~- J u~· STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE I • -co NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ) Maryland COUNTY - HATIOHAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES ~Anne Arundel PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM ,. coR N PS USE ONLY ·- (Type all entries · attach to °' enclose with photograph) ENTRY NUMBER I DATE r "" I % fl. NAME . 0 COMMON: Christ Church - ANDloR HlsToR1c1 Christ Church . West River· Christ Ch nrr.h t'ft.ron~ui 11 p t- l...OCA T ION . 12. ' . u is TREET ANO NUMOCR1 Owensville Road (Maryland Route 255) :::> CITY OR TOWN : Cl:: Owensville t- isTATE· I CODE lcouNTY: I CODE "" Maryland I 24 I Anne Arundel I 003 z 13. PHOTO REFERENCE ) DHOTO CREDIT: Wi 1 1 i ;:im Mnra.-:i.n DATE OF PHOTO: June 1969 w NECATIVE FILED AT: w Maryland Historical Trust, 2525 Riva Rd. I Annapolis , Md. 21401 l4:r;lOENTIFICATION . "" DESCR I BE VIEW, DIRECTION, ETC

south elevation

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MD. HISTORICAL TRUST BOX 1704 ANNAPOLIS, MD. 2l404

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PHOTOGRAPH OY L (6 '"'\'nLLr,.\M D. MORGAN ..J I ======-=====:::::::::l MAR • 68 ' JU~ 18 PHoTOGRAPH BY C.k,;....fCt.. w(.,.,r ~ lf.f Ji,.._ '~'7 WJLLJAM D. MORGA