St. John's Episcopal Church of Worthington, ca. 1900

Construction of St. John’s Episcopal Church, located on the southwest quadrant of Worthington’s Village Green probably began in 1827; the first service was held in the church in 1831. The gifted brick mason and church trustee Arora Buttles, who was responsible for Worthington’s finest early brick buildings, almost certainly had a hand in the construction of St. John’s. The raw materials of the building—the bricks, stone and native hardwoods—are all of local origin. This photograph shows a controversial bell spire that replaced the original bell tower in the late 1800's. The bell first rang from the original tower in 1833. A fund to replace the spire shown here was started immediately upon its completion, due to its ungainly appearance. Damaged by fire in 1929, Mrs. W. G. Deshler, grand-daughter of James Kilbourn and benefactor of the Worthington Public Library, donated the remainder of the sum needed to replace it. The current spire was dedicated in 1931.

Contributor Worthington Historical Society

Worthington Libraries and the Worthington Historical Society have partnered to build Worthington Memory, an online scrapbook of Worthington's history. Visit us at http://www.worthingtonmemory.org. Your Items Are Needed! For more information please contact WorthingtonMemory@worthingtonlibraries.org.