Church of the Nativity

The story

Behind the sketch.

Nativity is the church that seems determined to make every other steeple in town feel inadequate. Organized in 1842, the Episcopal congregation outgrew its first building and commissioned architects Frank Wills and Henry Dudley to design this Gothic Revival landmark. Completed in 1859, it rises through pointed arches, traceried windows, buttresses, and a 151-foot spire that has been directing Huntsville eyes upward ever since. The National Park Service considers it one of the least-altered surviving churches associated with Wills and Dudley, and it became a National Historic Landmark in 1990. Parish tradition adds that the words, "Reverence My Sanctuary", over the entrance persuaded Federal soldiers not to turn it into a stable during the Civil War. Apparently, even an occupying army could take a hint.

Neighborhood

Twickenham

Book location

Page 27