Church of the Ascension

About this property

Church of the Ascension was a historic church building at 1601 Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The church was built in 1893 and demolished in July 2017. At the time of its incorporation in 1854, Atlantic City, on Absecon Island, was seen as a prime location for the development of a resort town. Although by 1874 nearly 500,000 visitors would come to the city during its peak tourist season, its resident population was comparatively minimal at 1,043 in 1870 and 5,477 in 1880. In the earliest decades of the city's history, church services, like many of the amenities and attractions in the resort town, were exclusive to the summer months when the population swelled enough to fill scattered denominational churches to capacity. By the 1870s, devout Episcopalian residents, unsettled by the lack of year-round services at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, began a movement to permanently institute religious services in Atlantic City. When the 1879 summer tourist season began, year-round church services were instituted as Alfred M. Heston, historian and author of Heston’s Handbook: Atlantic City Illustrated, wrote: “The Church of the Ascension was organized as an all-the-year-round parish in 1879, principally through the efforts of Mrs. Francis W. Hemsley, the daughter of Bishop Underdonk and mother of Frederick Hemsley, present owner of the Hotel Brighton.” The Hemsleys, whose son Frederick was the grantor of the plot of land on which the church was built, were parishioners of the church who did much to establish the city as a year-round destination; according to Heston, Francis Hemsley in 1876, “announced that the Hotel Brighton would thereafter be conducted as an all-the-year-round hotel. Mr. Hemsley thus inaugurated the winter season which has contributed so much to the popularity of Atlantic City as a health resort. The winter and spring business at many of the hotels is now more profitable than the summer business.” Francis Hemsley had retired to Atlantic City “in the early 70’s for the benefit of his health” before his death in 1882. Until 1900, almost all structures in Atlantic City were frame houses built of timber rather than more vigorous or durable materials. This coexistence of permanent and impermanent building traditions lasted through the early decades of the twentieth century, after which the devastation caused by several fires was significant enough to warrant construction of a more solid, fire-resistant building stock. In 1886, the original timber frame Church of the Ascension was relocated from the intersection of Michigan and Pacific avenues to its ultimate location at the northwest corner of Pacific and Kentucky avenues to suit a parish desire for a more central location. The timber-frame church was demolished in 1883 to allow construction of the Spanish Renaissance-style Church of the Ascension, which was designed by Philadelphia-based architect Lindley Johnson. The development of the church from a “frame chapel” at the intersection of Michigan and Pacific avenues to the eclectic structure that stood at the intersection of Kentucky and Pacific avenues is best summarized by an entry in The Daily Union History of Atlantic City, New Jersey: "Rev. J. Rice Taylor, the first rector, began regular services in June, 1880, which have been maintained without intermission ever since. Under his direction, the parish was duly incorporated January 3, 1881, entering legally and canonically into possession of the church property. Rev. Wm. H. Avery succeeded to the rectorship in February 1882 and continued in charge for some years. In 1886, the vestry, seeking a more central and convenient location bought ground at Pacific and Kentucky Avenues and with the advice and consent of the canonical authorities removed the frame chapel thither adding an annex for Sunday school purposes. Rev. J. H. Townsend became rector December 1, 1891, and laid the corner stone of the present edifice April 27, 1893, which was completed by the liberal offerings of resident and transient worshippers and opened for use May 13, 1894. This structure was designed by Mr. Lindley Johnson is in the Spanish Renaissance style and is a good example of a commodious yet inexpensive hard material building well adapted to the varying needs of this population and climate."

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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