The earliest members of the Christ Church congregation were foundry workers who had immigrated from England and were working in South Pittsburg for the Southern States Coal, Iron, and Land Company, which was based in London. They began meeting together for worship in 1876. After the Southern States company donated land for a church, the congregation began construction of a new church building in 1882. Tennessee Episcopal Bishop Charles T. Quintard advised them on the building's design. He wrote that the new church should be "graceful and churchly," with a "good, deep, recessed channel," building dimensions "at least twice as long as... wide," and a steeply pitched roof. He also advised that "emplaned weather boarding" was an appropriate material. The church building was completed in 1884. With support from Bishop Quintard and St. Paul's Episcopal Church inChattanooga, Christ Church parish was formally established in May 1887. The following year a rectory was built, the bell tower was added to the church, and the church was consecrated by Bishop Quintard. The church's parish house was completed in about 1889. An addition in 1960 connected the parish house to the church. The church and parish house were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
Description
Christ Church is an example of the Gothic Revivalarchitectural style. Both the church and the parish house are single-story three-bay buildings. Consistent with Bishop Quintard's recommendation, at 27 by 57 feet the church building is more than twice as long as it is wide. The church building and its interior decor, including a hand-carved altar and baptismal font, are built entirely from wood. The square bell tower is two stories in height, has an open belfry, and is topped by a steep flared pyramidal roof. There are several stained glass windows, including a Tiffany Studios window installed in 1915. The church has a Mollerorgan that was installed in 1928. In 1974, the Historic American Buildings Survey described Christ Church and its parish house as "among the few frame Gothic Revival buildings in the state of Tennessee." Together with buildings at Rugby, Tennessee, they were said to "exemplify the imaginative understanding of high style design associated with the Episcopal church in east Tennessee in the Victorian era."
