St. Paul's Episcopal Church
In 1844, six local citizens set
aside a sizeable parcel of land
near the center of town for an
Episcopal church, but it took
more than two decades to raise
the funds to build it. Since its
dedication in 1867, St. Paul's
has been in continuous use as
an Episcopal church. The
structure is based on a design
by the renowned British
draftsman, Robert Upjohn.
Soon after he immigrated to
America, Upjohn published a
book of church designs which
became quite popular among
frontier congregations. Buying
his book became a license to
use one of his plans, and in a
short period of time these
simple church structures
dotted the frontier landscape.
The first priest to serve the
St. Paul's congregation was
Rev. William Dresser, the son
of Rev. Charles Dresser who
had married Mary Todd and
Abraham Lincoln in Springfield.