Old St Paul's Episcopal Church

Old St. Paul’s began as one of the original 30 parishes established in Maryland by the Church of England in 1692 and predates the founding of Baltimore City itself in 1729. The first church building was a log cabin structure on the banks of Colgate Creek near present-day Dundalk in southeast Baltimore County. By the 1720s it became clear that the major population center of the colony would be further north and west, so the Maryland Assembly was called upon to lay out what they termed Baltimore Town. At this time the parish vestry purchased a lot for a new church building in the newly formed village. The site was a choice piece of property encompassing the highest point overlooking the harbor. The current church occupies the northwestern-most corner of this original parcel. The second church was constructed in the 1730s in the same block as the current building, but in the middle of the block facing Lexington Street.