On August 20, 2006, Emmanuel Episcopal Church celebrated the 150th anniversary of the completion of its sanctuary.

In 1853, Lockhart was a tiny community on the frontier. It had dropped 'Springs" from its name when it incorporated just 5 years before. This period was one of missionary zeal, as reflected by the circuit riding preachers that evangelized the border areas. The Emmanuel congregation was organized in 1853, when the Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church in Philadelphia sent the Rev. Joseph Wood Dunn to the Lockhart region. The church met in a school house with its first congregants. The Articles of Organization refer to the church as "Amanuels". Frontier Texans weren't good spellers. As the church membership grew, it outgrew the small school facility, and the time came to build a permanent edifice.

Money was a scarce or non-existent commodity in the 1850s. Rev. Dunn cast around for inexpensive construction methods, and he and the church members settled on a type of concrete, probably learned from local Mexican-American artisans, of mixing caliche, sand and gravel. The result is a Gothic - Spanish style structure with thick whitewashed walls some two feet thick. Four members of the church agreed to roof the building, if Rev. Dunn would get the walls and windows built. The good preacher had to personally guarantee a ¤600 advance, and he collected donations from as far away as Philadelphia to repay the note. The church was completed on August 22nd, 1856, and arrangements were made to procure six glazed sconces for lighting. On May 17, 1857, Bishop George W. Freeman, the last non-resident Episcopal Bishop of Texas, preached a sermon in the small sanctuary. He noted in his journal: "It is a neat building, quite church-like, and excellently adapted tone of the great purpose of a Protestant Church, the preaching of the gospel. It is the easiest church to speak in that I am acquainted with, and, in reference to the science of acousticks, is worthy of imitation."

The sanctuary's original floor was polished limestone. The altar chancel, rails, and window frames were made of local walnut. Originally, there was a belfry. Damaged by a hurricane in 1879, it had to be removed in 1880. The original bell was also damaged, and given to a church member. The replacement bell, probably from the railroad, was later hung on a cedar post.

Some interesting myths have grown up about the sanctuary. One is that it served as a stable for Union troops during the Reconstruction period. Research shows that the Union troops were actually stationed in Austin, and when sent out on patrol to Lockhart, camped at springs near the old ice house, adjacent to the Livengood Feeds property. Some cut nails found under a wooden floor laid in 1899 lent credence to this story, but apparently there is no truth in it. Another is that there was a choir loft directly above the nave. The small area, now hidden behind louvered windows, would have been too small (and hot) for any choir numbering more than 2 persons, and in all probability provided access to the (now removed) belfry. There may have been a loft in the actual sanctuary, but this is unknown. Finally, the story persists that the church support beams, made of cedar, were brought from the Indianola area by carreta. Given the abundance of cedar in the Lockhart area, this also is probably not true.

In the 1970s the church (and by that I mean the congregation) decided to embark on a major rehabilitation of the sanctuary. The original floor was uncovered and re-finished. A parish hall was created out of an old structure that had once been a garage, and the detached parish hall was made into classrooms. All buildings were then joined under one roof and stuccoed. Shortly after this, the church bell was hung in its own bell tower. The church's current appearance is the result of this labor of love.

Acquisitions include the ½ acre adjacent to St. Maryıs parking lot, and the old Holter Building; this building, complete with an old Coca Cola advertisement on its side, houses Kirk Tunningleyıs Big Dog Neon business. The old storage shed on the north side of the Holter building was torn down, and that open space is now occupied by a prayer garden and columbarium.

An old newspaper caption below a picture of the exterior of the building noted its plain appearance and remarked that it could be easily missed by one passing the church. Like our bodies, it is not what is on the outside that matters, but what is inside. The interior of Emmanuel is elegantly simple and creates a Holy place filled with the spirit of all who have and will worship here.

We invite you to, "Come and see."
by Todd Blomerth and Liz McGinty