Christ Episcopal Church

Christ Episcopal Church. . , Vicksburg's Oldest Public Building , The cornerstone for Christ Episcopal was laid in 1839 but a fire and yellow fever epidemic delayed completion until 1843. The corner stone was laid by Bishop Leonidas Polk, who later served as a major general in the Confederate Army. During the siege, church doors were left open and daily services were held. All of the windows except one were destroyed by Union gunboat shelling. Two of the destroyed windows were later replaced with world renowned Tiffany windows. , Constitution Firehouse , To the east and up the hill you can see the cupola atop the Constitution Firehouse which was built in 1870 for $3,600. The cupola was actually constructed in 1837 for the original firehouse and was moved to the "New Firehouse" when it was built., Before Firehouses; When a fire broke out, Vicksburg's citizens answered to the call of the courthouse bell, bringing buckets to form a "Bucket Brigade". Later, in the 1830's, every able-bodied male citizen of Vicksburg belonged to one of three volunteer fire companies. Then in 1885 Vicksburg established its first organized fire department with paid firemen. , Photo caption , Christ Episcopal Church (1900) prior to covering the brick with stucco in 1905