History

Building History

Church - 1852

St. Paul’s Church in Brookline Massachusetts was founded in 1849.  Designed by the famous architect Richard Upjohn, the church was completed in 1852.  It is on the National and State Registers of Historic Places.

The sanctuary was devastated by fire in 1976, leaving only its exterior walls.  The congregation faced a choice.  We could give up what had been lost (the beautiful Gothic Revival interior and irreplaceable stained glass windows) and move on to other churches. Or we could rebuild the interior, welcoming the new to strengthen the old. Thankfully, the choice was to rebuild.

The importance of physical place inspired a sense of mission that the congregation chose to build upon, and the determination, energy, and joy in that decision informs our church and our ministries to this day.

Rectory - 1886

The rectory was completed in 1886. In 1913, the Vestry voted to replace gas lights in the Rectory and the Parish House with electricity.

Parish House - 1859

In 1859, the Chapel (now the parish hall) was dedicated. The rest of what we now call the Parish House, linking the old chapel to the church, was completed in 1896. 1925 brought extensive renovations to Parish House, including the addition of rooms in the basement. The current kitchen was created in the early 1990s.

For more information, see "St. Paul’s Church Brookline: A Chronological History of Its Buildings" (PDF), October 31, 1999 by Brett Donham on the 150th Anniversary of the incorporation of the church.

A Sketch of the History of St. Paul’s Church in Brookline

As part of the celebration of St. Paul's first 100 years, the then parish historian Robert Payne Bigelow wrote a booklet entitled A Sketch of the History of St. Paul's Church in Brookline - 1849-1949. It divided the first 100 years of history into four periods:

• Organization

• The Aristocratic Period

• The Clerical Period

• The Democratic Period

A few random items from the Sketch:

• 2012 was the 100th anniversary of the St. Paul's yard sale

• 1912 no one will have more than one vote at the annual meeting (previously the number of votes was determined by the number of pews you owned)

• 1914 first appearance of ladies at the annual meeting

• 1917 one woman was appointed to the search committee for a new rector

The booklet includes pictures of leading figures during St. Paul's first 100 years. Attached below is a scan of the original pamphlet:

“A Sketch of the History of St. Paul's Church in Brookline - 1849-1949” (PDF)

Independent Spirit: The Life of Ellen Chase & St. Paul’s Church Brookline

"A Sketch of the History of St. Paul's Church in Brookline 1849-1949” describes the many talented and able men of St. Paul's in its first 100 years but very little about its women. Pat Dunbar, St. Paul's current Historian, did some research and the result is a fascinating booklet about Ellen Chase.

Ellen was the founder and first regent of the Hannah Goddard Chapter, D.A.R.; a member of the board and at one time, secretary of the Massachusetts Society of Colonial Dames; and a member of the board of the Boys' City History Club. She also belonged to the Society of Mayflower Descendants. In the early 1890s Ellen cofounded the Brookline Historical Publication Society, with Charles Bolton, librarian of the Brookline Public Library, and Daniel S. Sanford,.

She also wrote three volumes of "Materials for the History of St. Paul's Church in Brookline." These binders contain a wealth of information about parish membership and about those who were in some way connected to the church. The work is also a history of much of Brookline. Most of the booklet is dedicated to excerpts of Ellen Chase describing the many influential people in her life and the life of the church.

Click the link below to view the full booklet.

“Independent Spirit: The Life of Ellen Chase & St. Paul's Church Brookline” (PDF)

Yard Sale Tales - History of St. Paul’s Yard Sales

One hundred years; quite an anniversary for our yard sale! "In May 1912 the first fair was held on the lawn between the Rectory and the Parish House. It raised $600 from the sale of articles largely made by the ladies of the parish who met at the home of Mrs. Arthur L. Walker". Laura Revere Little was one of the most active parishioners of St. Paul's, many time chair of the fair, among numerous other activities. This first fair is mentioned in Sketch of the History of St. Paul's Church in Brookline: 1849-­‐1949.

• The first mention of a fall fair is in the May 1932 Vestry minutes.

• No mention of 1942, but in 1949 the income from the fair was $2,498.

• On October 25, 1952 the fair took place from 2–5 p.m. Luncheon was 75¢ and tea at the rectory cost 40¢. There were tables with aprons, fancy articles, candy, flowers, treasures, grabs, food, ice cream, and cake.

• The fair on October 26, 1962 opened with a bang when a gas explosion blew the oven door off the range in the kitchen. The fair featured The Country Store, The Village Inn, household articles, books and records, jewelry, plants and flowers, hobbies and handicrafts, Christmas table, toys and baby clothes, white elephants, roving vendors, hot dogs and soft drinks, and pony rides. The fair brought in $1,750.

• In 1972 there was a thanksgiving fair, chaired by Eleanor Mitchell, another extremely active parishioner.

• In 1982 we raised $4,553 at the Harvest Fair, chaired by Allison Moore. The "Calendar" mentioned plans for a "Pie-­‐us" luncheon, booths, collecting rummage, white elephants, and furniture.

• The Vestry minutes in 1992 said there would be just two fairs next year. $22,440 was raised in 1992.

• The 2002 fall Yard Sale raised $14,236.

• In 2011, we raised $12,735

• The largest price for a single item has been around $1,500.

Interestingly enough there is little mention of the fair/yard sale in any vestry minutes. Since this was a pretty successful fundraiser, that seems strange. Other sources for this information are the weekly "Calendars" and the Annual Reports of every ten years, when they were available, since 1912. The title "fair" is used often and may not always be the event we've come to know as the Yard Sale.

Bill Jones headed the event for many years in the early 1990s. Dick Wallace* took over and Ginny Willcox helped him for two years before heading the event since the late 90s. Steve Estes‐Smargiassi has helped Ginny for about ten years.

Walter Mucha, without whom we would quite possibly not have continued the yard sale, has been involved since 1979, when the fair was held later in the late fall and was tied into Christmas. Handicraft items and white elephants were sold. St. Paul's sponsored the Tea family, refugees from Cambodia, and collected items to furnish their apartment. So much was gathered that we had to find a way to get rid of the surplus and so the fair began to sell furniture.

The size of the fair began to grow along with Walter's household moving business. Walter collected stuff all year, stored in Charlestown storage units, basements, attics, and the Great Hall. There were two large yard sales, one in the spring and one in October, followed by smaller sales a week later to sell the leftovers, until this got to be too much for everyone. In the mid-­1990s we went to one fair just after Labor Day.

Over the last one hundred years the event has gone from a small handicrafts sale to a "humongous" yard sale. The sale is the social event of the year, an event that does much good for the church as well as for those who get to purchase interesting/necessary items at a low price. It's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun. Come and join us for the sale set–up and for the Saturday following Labor Day.

The yard sale was canceled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but happily resumed after that.

—Pat Dunbar, Parish Historian

* Dick Wallace died in 2009. His generous bequest enabled St. Paul's to install a sound system in the sanctuary.

St. Paul’s Former Organ

Bozeman/Gibson, Op. 23 (1983)

General Tremulant
Mechanical Key Action
Tuning: A-440
Temperament: Kirnberger III