St. George's Episcopal Church, 100 Lake Avenue, Cordova, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, AK

Significance: The design of Saint George's Episcopal Church is attributed to the Rev. Eustace P. Zeigler, who had trained as an architect in Detroit before relocating to Cordova in 1909. The church was consecrated on Easter Sunday, 20 April 1919, and dedicated to the memory of Erastus Hawkins, Chief Engineer of the Cooper River & Northwestern Railway. The construction of the Saint George's was funded in part by a large contribution from the Kennecott Copper Corporation. The church was built of wood frame construction on a concrete foundation, and sided with wood shingles on the exterior. The interior was sheathed with plywood panels and wood battens, stained dark brown.

Never a large congregation, Cordova was designed a mission outpost by the Episcopal Church, with Saint George's often sharing a priest with Epiphany Church in Valdez. During several periods over the course of the twentieth century, the parish lacked a resident priest, with lay members leading services between the occasional visits of priests from other parishes. Nonetheless, Saint George's has continued to play a vital role in Cordova, providing social services and serving as an important community gathering place. In 1982, Saint George's was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Red Dragon Historic District.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2183

Survey number: HABS AK-156

Building/structure dates: 1919 Initial Construction

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 82004899

episcopal churches valdez church episcopal church lake avenue cordova valdez cordova valdez cordova census area alaska history of alaska alaska free images alaska photographs religions wood structural frames concrete foundations wood shingle siding plywood battens mission churches valerie gomez erastus hawkins historic american buildings survey kim hoagland kennecott copper corporation jet lowe anne e matsov jeremy t mauro mark schara john wachtel eustace p zeigler photo george episcopal church ultra high resolution high resolution architecture building church buildings detroit publishing company photograph collection library of congress national register of historic places

1919 - 1980

Library of Congress

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