Saint John's Chapel

​Burkittsville’s skyline is dominated by the spires of its two oldest houses of worship, Resurrection Reformed Church (now South Mountain Heritage Society) and Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church. However, tucked between the historic houses of West Main Street stands another, more hidden, historic house of worship. This charming clapboard structure of Gothic Revival style was Saint John’s Episcopal Chapel. 

Saint Mark’s Parish was established in 1800 when portions of southwestern Frederick County and southeastern Washington County were separated from All Saints Parish. In the mid-nineteenth century, the parish had two places of worship: the Parish Church of Saint Mark in Petersville and Saint Luke’s Chapel in Brownsville. At the end of the Civil War, the chapel in Brownsville was a burnt-out ruin, having been used as a hospital for wounded soldiers. In 1869, Saint Luke’s Chapel was restored to active use.
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The decades after the Civil War saw opportunities for growth in Saint Mark’s Parish. In the 1880s, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad established a massive yard in the small canal town of Berlin. Within a few years, the community, renamed Brunswick, exploded with growth. Grace Chapel was established in 1890 and a church built on a lot donated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Saint Mark's Church

Saint Luke's Church

Grace Church

Rt. Rev. Edward Trail Helfenstein

Parish leadership also looked to the growing village of Burkittsville as a potential place for yet another chapel. As early as 1884, ministers from Saint Mark’s Parish held occasional services in Burkittsville, frequently in the Union Church, a stone building which stood on the east end of Main Street. Rev. Edward Trail Helfenstein became Rector of Saint Mark’s Parish in 1890 and he immediately made Burkittsville one of his routine preaching points. He transferred the services to the Resurrection Reformed Church, now the home of South Mountain Heritage Society.

On July 28, 1896, the Vestry of Saint Mark’s Parish obtained a deed for a lot on West Main Street from William and Henrietta Graham. The frame chapel was completed by mid-September 1896. The first service was held in Saint John’s Chapel in October 1896 with over 100 people in attendance. The total cost for the new chapel was $1,500.00. Through the efforts of Rev. Helfenstein, the parish paid off the indebtedness of the new chapel within a year. On November 23, 1897, the Right Reverend William Paret, the sixth Bishop of the Diocese of Maryland, consecrated Saint John’s Chapel.
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The Brunswick Herald newspaper described the new chapel as follows: 

“the building is about 30x60 feet, frame, and has a slate roof and tower for the bell. The style of architecture is plain but of the latest modern design for frame buildings. The windows are of colored glass. The interior walls are plastered and the ceiling finished on the wood and hard oiled. Two tiers of comfortable oak seats with kneeling benches attached are arranged with an aisle on each side and one through the center. The room has a seating capacity of nearly 200. Suspended from the centre of the building is a very pretty 12 light chandelier, of the latest design, combining both beauty and convenience. A large clear toned bell has been placed in the tower, which can be heard for miles. A stout paling fence with double gate, all neatly painted, is across the front of the lot.”

​No name of an architect or builder has been found in the few documents which survive describing Saint John’s Chapel. However, the Parish Vestry had a standing relationship with Baltimore architect Thomas Buckler Ghequier. He designed Brunswick’s Grace Chapel (1890), the third Saint Mark’s Church at Petersville (1891), and made alterations to Saint Luke’s Chapel in Brownsville. A potential contractor may have been William Suman of Broad Run who built Pleasant View Church of the Brethren (1876) and the Sunday School Chapel at Resurrection Reformed Church (1896). Both structures display similar architectural characteristics to Saint John’s Chapel, especially the design of their ceilings.

An interior view of Saint John's Chapel taken from a real estate listing.

​Despite an auspicious beginning, Saint John’s Chapel’s existence was to be short. By 1910, the Chapel had only four communicant members and services were only held one Sunday a month. There were still periodic services at Saint John’s in 1915 when an article in Frederick’s The Citizen newspaper reported that the Rector of Saint Mark’s Parish, Rev. Edward E. Burgess, preached five sermons in one day. His services included all four of the parish churches and a memorial address at the Knights of Pythias Hall in Brunswick. Diocesan records state that the last service was held in Saint John’s Chapel in 1928. 

Saint John's Chapel and the neighboring residence in 1976.

On July 5, 1935, the chapel was deconsecrated, and the Parish Vestry authorized to dispose of the property. Ironically, the person who authorized this action was none other than the Rev. Edward Trail Helfenstein, who had founded Saint John’s forty years earlier. By this time, Rev. Helfenstein was serving as the eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Maryland. After the closure of Saint John’s Chapel, the building was purchased by the Hemp family who lived in the neighboring residence. For over twenty years, the chapel was used as an antique shop by Lawrence Way who also served as Mayor of Burkittsville in the 1970s. More recently, the chapel has been utilized as an artist’s studio.

Though more than ninety years have passed since the last services were held in Saint John’s Chapel, the building still retains much of its original architectural detailing. 

The rose window in the front gable of Saint John's Chapel.