St. James Episcopal Church is a parish of the Diocese of Iowa located in

Oskaloosa, Iowa Oskaloosa is a List of cities in Iowa, city in, and the county seat of, Mahaska County, Iowa. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Oskaloosa was a national center of bituminous coal mining. The population was 11,558 in the 2020 U ...

, United States. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1991.

History

The parish was begun on May 27, 1855, and it was incorporated in August 1857. A lot was bought for a church on South Market Street, the location of the Oskaloosa Public Library, but it was exchanged for the corner lot at First Ave East and South Third Street. A

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style church and a rectory were built on the property in 1869 for $12,000. It was a frame structure that measured , and it was consecrated on November 20, 1870. The church building was moved to the back of the property in 1896 in preparation for the construction of the present church in 1900. Frank E. Wetherell, a parishioner, designed the Late Gothic Revival style building. It was built of

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

with a bell tower by Henry Wetherell for $20,000. The new church was consecrated on February 2, 1902. The old church is attached to the south side of the new church, and it is veneered in brick. with The congregation worshiped without an organ until 1920 when $2,500 was raised to purchase one. The tower holds 10 bells that were given by Alice Williams Bennett in memory of her parents Micajah and Virginia Williams. The tower was severely damaged by lightning in 1927 and had to be rebuilt. The church's interior features an oak carved altar, lectern, pulpit,

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

, and

altar rail The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and ot ...

Stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows line the east and west walls. The original frame church was renovated in the 1950s for classrooms, office space, and a children's chapel. In 1985 a

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

, which had been built for a church in

Bloomer, Wisconsin Bloomer is a city in Chippewa County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city of Bloomer was 3,683. History Mr. Bloomer and a group of men from Galena, Illinois built a mill on the site in 1848. As winter ...

in 1930, was purchased a rebuilt in the church. It contains 1,126 pipes. A new oak altar was built in 1993 so the priest can face the congregation during the service. It was consecrated on March 29, 1994. The original church was remodeled again in 2001 to create a new fellowship hall. While it was air-conditioned at the time the rest of the church building was air-conditioned in 2004.

References

External links

St. James’ Parish web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint James Episcopal Church, Oskaloosa, Iowa Churches completed in 1901 Gothic Revival church buildings in Iowa Episcopal church buildings in Iowa Churches in Mahaska County, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Mahaska County, Iowa Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Religious organizations established in 1855 Oskaloosa, Iowa 1855 establishments in Iowa