{"nrhp_refnum":"78002994","name":"St. David's Episcopal Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"304 E. 7th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Austin","county":"Travis County","state":"TX","lat":30.268621693000057,"lon":-97.73937883699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-08-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"St. David's Episcopal Church is a Gothic Revival stone church at 304 East Seventh Street in Austin, Travis County, Texas. Construction began in 1853 and the building was enlarged several times over the following century.","why_significant":"It is described as one of the oldest surviving religious buildings in Austin, and its founders and parishioners included prominent political and commercial figures. Its additions, in 1870, 1885 and 1887, show changing ideas of church design and Episcopal worship. The building also illustrates how the Gothic Revival style developed in Texas church architecture, from an early English Gothic chapel to Victorian Gothic forms.","narrative":"Begun in 1853 at the corner of San Jacinto and Seventh Streets in Austin, this Episcopal church was the city's first stone masonry house of worship. The Rev. Edward Fontaine planned it as a five-bay limestone chapel with buttresses and tall lancet windows. In 1870 the Rev. Benjamin Rogers designed a south addition with a battlemented bell gable and flanking towers, giving the building a Victorian Gothic character. Architect A.M.C. Nixon, a parishioner, helped with a major 1885 expansion that added a canted apsidal chancel, and the east wall was rebuilt in 1887. A parish house followed in 1965. The congregation counted former officials of the Republic of Texas, financiers and civic leaders among its founders, and parishioners later bought a hospital that became St. David's Hospital. Its changing plan reflects the shift toward a more ritual-focused Episcopal service, and its Gothic Revival design shows how the style developed in Texas church architecture.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Edward Fontaine, 1853; Benjamin Rogers, 1870","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival (early English Gothic with Victorian Gothic additions)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in good condition and altered, with religious use. A parish house was added in 1965.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.341777-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/69/9737/40973769/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/78002994.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002994/a50bfcb7b9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002994/a50bfcb7b9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Dtobias","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St-davids-episcopal-austin.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Dtobias</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St-davids-episcopal-austin.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"75002132","name":"Sixth Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/sixth-street-historic-district-75002132/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973769","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._David%27s_Episcopal_Church_(Austin,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7587706"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/travis-county/st-davids-episcopal-church-78002994/"}