St. John's: 200 Years of History

St. John's: 200 Years of History. . , Step across the cobblestone street and trolley tracks of a bygone era and look up at the façade of St. John's Church, Georgetown Parish, designed in the Federal style by William Thornton, architect of the Capitol. This Episcopal parish, established in 1796, attracted notable early Americans including Thomas Jefferson, who contributed $50 for the original edifice. Thomas Benjamin Stoddert, the first Secretary of the Navy, was among the founders and Francis Scott Key was a St. John's vestryman when he wrote The Star-Spangled Banner in 1814. Vestryman Henry E. Cooke, governor of the District of Columbia, generously supported St. John's works, including a mission for seamen and bargemen, which became Grace Church on lower Wisconsin Avenue. , , St. John's was a strong supporter of the Union during the Civil War. In the depths of the Great Depression, parishioner Eliza de Saussure Gault worked tirelessly with the poor, especially orphans. Two centuries after its founding, St. John's installed its first female rector, Margaret Graham. , , Learn more history from the plaques at St. John's , on the front lawn and on the Potomac Street side of the building. Notice the outside stairway originally built to provide entry to the church balcony for parishioners of all races who were too poor to pay for pews, a common fundraising practice of early churches. , , Over the years, a dozen or so churches and a synagogue have been established in the one square mile that is Georgetown. Colonial Georgetown's atmosphere of religious tolerance nurtured a broad spectrum of faiths that today include Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Christian Science and Jewish as well as Episcopal.