St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Southington (1892)

Episcopal services began to be held in private homes in Southington in the 1780s. The first church building was begun in 1791, but was not finished for many years. Many early members of the church were not dedicated Anglicans, but were Universalists who joined because of doctrinal disputes with the town’s Congregational church. As described by Heman R. Timlow in Ecclesiastical and Other Sketches of Southington, Conn. (1875):

It was a difficult work to build the house of worship, but it was more difficult to sustain service after it was built. It was a very plain building, and had Gothic windows to distinguish it from the “meeting house.” It stood where David P. Woodruff’s market now is. The original “proprietors” held possession of it, and for many years there were legal questions as to its rightful ownership. It was finally sold and converted into a store. In 1860 it was burned. […]

In 1828 the parish was united with that of St. Andrews, Meriden, then under the rectorship of Rev. James Keeler. Under the labors of this rector the parish gave signs of new life, it having thrown off entirely the Universalist element and established itself upon the doctrines of the Prayer Book. In 1829 the building was consecrated by Bishop Brownell. For a year or two there followed prosperity and harmony, but another secession took place in 1831 during the revivals that visited the town that year, and several of the leading members of the congregation became members of the Congregational and Baptist churches. Services were occasionally held by Rectors of adjacent parishes, and in this way a nominal existence was preserved. In 1840 the Unitarian movement absorbed most of the parish so that scarcely a remnant remained. […]

In 1862 an attempt was made to reorganize the church under the name of The Church of the Redeemer. The Rev. B. F. Cooley officiated for a year, and he was followed by Charles Allen, of Trinity College, as Lay Reader, who labored zealously for a year. The enterprise however did not succeed, and it was abandoned in 1864. Occasional services have since been held in the town by the Rev. Dr. Horton of Cheshire, and others.

In later years, the Episcopal church was again revived in Southington and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, at 145 Main Street, was built in 1892 in the Shingle style. A parish hall was added in 1899. It was considered a mission church, until becoming a “self-sustaining parish” by 1919. The church added a new parish house and classrooms in 1957.