In 1881, the Episcopal Church of the Bread of Life was established in Bismarck. The church was built on land donated by the railroad. The following year, riverboat captain I.P. Baker donated a bell for the church. The bell came from the steamboat Red Cloud, which had wrecked on the Missouri River. In 1890, the name of the church was changed to St. George’s Episcopal Church.
By the 1930s, the parish was growing and needed a larger building. In 1935, the Reverend DeForrest Bolles donated two lots. Additional lots were purchased, and in 1943 a substantial monetary gift made the construction of a new church possible.
Groundbreaking for the building took place on May 8th, 1948. On September 10th, 1949, the last service was held in the old church, followed by the first service in the new building. The old church was eventually moved to Camp Hancock, an old army outpost established in 1872.
The new church is notable for its method of construction, using pumice concrete. This type of concrete is composed of Portland cement, pumice rock, pumice sand, and water. Compared to conventional concrete, pumice concrete reduces the weight of a structure by one third while increasing the insulation value. It is resistant to freezing and thawing, a useful feature in North Dakota.
The most striking feature, however, is the stained glass. The windows were made in England by the glass studio of Barton, Kinder, and Alderson. The windows contain pieces of glass salvaged from dozens of English churches damaged during the bombing of World War II. The studio documented the source of the glass in each window. Some of the glass came from churches built in the Middle Ages.
On this date in 2021, the National Park Service recognized the historical significance of Bismarck’s St. George’s Episcopal Church by adding it to the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the official list of places deemed worthy of preservation. The Register was authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. It is an effort to support the identification, evaluation, and protection of America’s historic resources. It is considered an honor for a building to be included on this prestigious list.
Dakota Datebook by Carole Butcher
Sources:
- St. George’s Episcopal Memorial Church. “History.” https://stgeorges-bismarck.org/history/ Accessed 9/6/23.
- National Park Service. “National Register of Historic Places.” https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/index.htm Accessed 9/6/2023.
- Pumice Products Store. “Concrete: Lightweight Aggregate.” https://pumicestore.com/pumice-products/pumice-aggregate.html Accessed 9/6/2023.
