Preserving Historic St. Paul’s Chapel

THE DALLES — The city’s longest-standing church, Historic St. Paul’s Chapel on Fifth and Union, turned 150 this year, and a small group of people are working to prevent the landmark from being sold, Julie Reynolds told The Dalles Chamber of Commerce during its Oct. 23 Community Affairs meeting.

Baptized there as an infant, Reynolds said the chapel has seen little use in recent years with the larger St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 1805 Minnesota St. After the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon decided to sell the building, she and about a dozen others formed a planning committee, aiming to make the chapel a viable, self-supporting entity. 

“As post-World War II generations started having families, church attendance increased, and it became clear the chapel was too small,” said Reynolds. “When the congregation built and moved to the new building in 1962, the chapel was left empty.”

Now, they host a weekly service on Wednesdays at noon, along with weddings, celebrations of life and baptisms. The planning committee also hopes to carry out grant-funded maintenance work, which would help preserve a relic that most members have a long relationship with.

Designed by American botanist and Episcopal priest Reuben Nevius, the chapel, with 10 fixed pews on each side of a center aisle, hosted its first service on Dec. 25, 1875. As Reynolds explained, the architectural style is Carpenter Gothic, an offshoot of the Gothic Revival movement created during the Victorian Era. Unlike the traditional stone, Carpenter’s Gothic is characterized by external buttresses and arches made from wood, a more frugal adaptation common in rural areas.

In spite of the material, Historic St. Paul’s Chapel survived a large fire that burned 17 blocks of downtown The Dalles and hundreds of homes in 1891, but stopped at Union Street. While there have been several renovations, the most extensive came in 1900, which saw an expanded footprint, a new basalt foundation, a bell tower, and dedicated space for the choir and organ. The chapel’s most popular stained-glass window, featuring a large lily in the center, was installed at that point, too.

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these,” Reynolds said, reading the Bible verses that inspired the piece. “I was always sorry the congregation had to sit with their back to that window.”

Beyond resuming regular church activities, the committee is also using the chapel and its attached Remington Hall for other community events, including a speech therapy camp, multiple lectures and a concert. They even gave tours this summer when the farmers’ market attracted lots of people downtown.

“We’re really happy that a lot more of our community is getting to see what the chapel is like, and it may help us in our efforts to keep it going and make it viable,” Reynolds said.

Although the committee is still working on a dedicated chapel website, there’s an art show planned for Nov. 15, a Celtic concert on Dec. 5 and they’ll be participating in Portland State University’s Archeology Roadshow the following day. Reynolds noted that cash donations are accepted at 1805 Minnesota Street along with checks, but be sure to write chapel in the memo line.