1916-1919
- By this time Henry Ten Eyck Wendell was fully engaged as the architect for the rebuilding of Saint Paul’s Church. The exterior was planed as a near replica of the former church, although longer. The interior was new and designed in the Colonial Georgian style. Although initially it was thought that the walls could be salvaged by building interior columns to support the roof, a storm with a strong wind blew them down so that plan was scratched.
- The insurance adjuster estimated the loss at $105,000. Coverage by the Southern Mutual Insurance Company on the church was $65,000 and on the Parish House was $10,000.
- (The Festival of Saint Michael and All Angels). The Cornerstone of the present Saint Paul’s Church was laid by Social Lodge Number 1, F & A. M., assisted by Webb’s Lodge Number 166. Social Lodge Number 1 was originally Social Lodge Number 18, which had laid the 1819 Corner Stone for the church that burned. The service was led by the Choir processing in singing “The Church’s One Foundation.”
- Placed in the Cornerstone:
-Replica of the 1819 Copper Place, which was donated by William Schweigert & Company. -A directory of the Parish and Sunday School. -Copies of Church Bells for April, May and September 1916. -An Augusta Herald dated September 29, 1916. -An Augusta Chronicle dated September 29, 1916. -Various coins contributed by the Vestry and Congregants. -Dr. C. C. Williams’ History of Saint Paul’s. -Pieces of glass and memorials from the old church. -Pieces of the old altar saved from the ruins by Mr. Platt. -A nail from the old church. -The By-laws for Social Lodge Number 1.
- After the Cornerstone for the church was laid, the Cornerstone for the Parish House was laid by the Bishop (F. F. Reese) and the Rector (G. S. Whitney). It was the same Cornerstone used in 1912 and salvaged from the fire. Since the masons had laid that cornerstone in 1912, they did not participate in this service.
- A Capital Campaign was organized with printed pledge cards that were distributed among the parishioners. This would make up the difference between the insurance money and the actual cost of rebuilding the Church and Parish House.
| 1917 | April 8. The first service was held in the rebuilt Parish House, and continued in use for services until September 1918. |
| 1917 | April 22. Bishop Reese confirmed a class of 19 in the new Parish House. |
| 1918 | With the untimely death of H. T. E. Wendell, the architect, supervision of construction was taken over by E. L. Robertson, another architect with offices in the Johnson Building. The contractor was C. B. Holley, and the electrical contractor was Whitney Electric Company. |
| 1918 | May. The steps on the front of the burned church are set in place around the churchyard as benches. |
| 1918 | September. The first service was held in the new Church. The organ in the new church cost $6,500. |
| 1919 | May 7. The new church was formally consecrated by the Right Reverend Frederick Frocke Reese, Bishop of Georgia, assisted by Bishops Edwin G. Weed of the Diocese of Florida, Arthur S. Lloyd, Retired, of the Board of Missions, and Edward A. Osborne of the Diocese of Springfield. |
