The History of Emmanuel Church

 This year (2016), the vestry of Emmanuel Church celebrated its Sestercentennial,  250 years since the establishment of Chester Parish.  It was on January 3, 1766 that the first vestry meeting of the newly formed Chester Parish was held.  Next year, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the present church, followed by the celebration of the church's completion in 1772.

 

In 1766, Emmanuel Church was already about 60 years old.  The first chapel in Chestertown was likely built very shortly after the Provincial Council of Maryland designated Chestertown to be the port of entry for Cecil, Kent and Queen Anne's Counties in 1706.  That first wooden structure was razed in 1706 to make way for a new brick church.  In 1765, the Maryland General Assembly established Chester Parish out of land taken from St. Paul's and Shrewsbury Parishes.  A new church at I.U. was designated to be the parish church, and the chapel in Chestertown, which had served as a chapel of ease for St. Paul's Kent became the chapel of ease I.U.  In 1767, the chapel in Chestertown was once again razed and a new two-story church was built on the site.  By 1809, as the population center of Kent County moved toward Chestertown, I.U. fell into ruin, and the church at Chestertown became the parish church of Chester Parish.

 

In 1879, the church was extensively remodeled and the plain glass windows were replaced with stained glass.  Upon completion of the work in 1882, at the reconsecration of the new church, the Rt. Rev. Henry Lay, first Bishop of Easton declared that the church would thereafter be known as Emmanuel Church.  Emmanuel Church still stands at the intersection of Cross and High Streets, the fourth reincarnation of Anglican and Episcopal tradition in Chestertown.

 

This website is intended to serve as a repository of the history of Emmanuel Church.  It is now and always will be a work in progress.  The past is never fully known or understood, and as time marches inexorably forward, the future becomes the past and takes its place in this archive.

 

I invite you to contribute in any way you can to this collection by emailing me on the contact page.