Christ Church To Receive New Crown

Christ Church as it looked earlier this week.

Spires will be replicated and replaced.

The over six foot spire on the SW corner of the bell tower was removed in 2013 for safety reasons, and now resides in the basement.

Christ Church in the early 20th Century. Note gas street lights.

Christ Church To Receive New Crown

by Larry Janezich

Christ Church has contracted with Wagner Roofing to replicate and replace the eight spires, restoring the church’s crown to the profile it had in 1891.  In recent years, some of the spires have visibly deteriorated and one has been removed having presented a safety hazard.  The new spires will be fabricated from lead coated copper and installed by Thanksgiving.

Asked what would happen to the old spires, a Church representative said that they would be sold to members of the congregation, some of whom will use them as decorative features for home and garden.

Christ Church was founded in 1794 and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1969.  The Protestant Episcopalian congregation originally met in a tobacco barn on New Jersey Avenue near D Street S.E.  The original 45 X 36 foot church at the present location was started in 1806.  The four story bell tower with four spires on top was added in 1848-49 and the parish hall was built in 1874.  In 1891, a fifth story was added to the bell tower as well as a front vestibule, leaving the G Street façade as it appears today.

In addition to the 2.5 acre site of the church at 620 G Street, SE, Christ Church owns Congressional Cemetery at 18^th and E Streets, SE.