St. James Episcopal Church
National Register of Historic Places

St. James Episcopal Church

Cumberland Furnace, Dickson County, Tennessee
Listed
August 21, 1977
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
77001268

About this property

The Calvary Episcopal Church (formerly St. James Episcopal Church) is a historic Episcopal church located off Tennessee State Route 48 in Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee. St. James Episcopal Church was founded in 1878. Its small white frame church building was completed the following year in a Gothic Revival style. The church was consecrated by Bishop Charles Quintard in August 1882. The builders of the church were Captain James Pierre Drouillard and his wife, born Mary Florence Kirkman. Mary Florence Kirkman Drouillard was the granddaughter of Anthony Wayne Van Leer, who was a member of a well known historical family in Pennsylvania and noted in the anti-slavery cause. Van Leer purchased the notable iron works at Cumberland Furnace. She was heiress to the iron works in Cumberland Furnace as well as 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) of land in the vicinity. Drouillard was a West Point graduate who served as an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War; Mary Florence Kirkman shocked Nashville society when she married him there in 1864 (while the state of Tennessee was still at war with the Union). For several years, the Drouillards made their home in Cumberland Furnace and oversaw the operation of the iron works. In 1870 they built their three-story Italianate mansion home, now known as Drouillard House, on a site that overlooks the community. They also constructed a school for both black and white children on the land where the church's parish hall now stands. In 1882, the Drouillards transferred the church to the Protestant Episcopal Church of Tennessee for $5. The Drouillards left Cumberland Furnace in 1886 and took up residence in Nashville. The church building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. During the 1980s, St. James established a "daughter" church in Dickson. During the 1990s, the church in Dickson was redesignated as St. James Episcopal Church and the church in Cumberland Furnace became a mission church, renamed Calvary Church.

Location

Cumberland Furnace, Dickson County, Tennessee
36.26280, -87.35780

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
Sources

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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Nearby Historic Sites

Drouillard House
Civil War
0.1 mi
Napier, Richard C., House
Industrial
2.9 mi
Promise Land School (Additional Documentation)
Civil War
3.9 mi
Miller Family Farm
Listed
4.2 mi
Neblett Place Farm
Listed
4.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was St. James Episcopal Church listed on the National Register?

St. James Episcopal Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 21, 1977.

What type of historic resource is St. James Episcopal Church?

St. James Episcopal Church is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for St. James Episcopal Church?

The period of significance for St. James Episcopal Church is recorded as the industrial era.

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