St. Paul's by-the-Sea Episcopal Church is anEpiscopal church inJacksonville Beach, Florida. The first church to be established in theJacksonville Beaches, it dates to 1887 with the construction of its original building. The current building was dedicated in 1967.
In 1886, a small group of locals in Pablo Beach, Florida (nowJacksonville Beach) and regular guests of the Murray Hall Hotel joined to hostEpiscopal services. Service was held at the hotel, as there were no churches in theJacksonville Beaches area at the time. The following year, congregants raised $800 to build their own chapel, which was designed by architectRobert Sands Schuyler. The Atlantic Railroad donated land on the corner of 2nd Avenue South and 2nd Street.[1]
The chapel sat empty in 1902 and 1923. Year-round services began in 1925, and St. Pauls-by-the-Sea became its ownparish in 1940. As the congregation grew, the church made plans for a new, larger building.[2] It acquired land at 11th Avenue and 5th Street North and moved the original chapel building there in 1953. It was renovated and expanded a few years later. In 1967 the congregation dedicated its current building, a substantially largermodern structure. Three years later, the congregation sold the original chapel to Central Christian Church at the Beaches, now Beaches Chapel. Its new owners relocated the structure to their property in nearbyNeptune Beach. Beaches Chapel later built its own larger church, and used the small chapel primarily for Sunday services, weddings, and for the students at its school. In 2011, Beaches Chapel sold the building for $1 to the Beaches Area Historical Society, who moved it once more toBeaches Museum & History Park onBeach Boulevard, near its original location.[1][3]
The modern church was dedicated in 1967. It was designed in themodern style byBlake Ellis and is made ofcoquina concrete. On April 18, 2012, theAmerican Institute of Architects' Florida Chapter included the building in its list of "Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places".[2]
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