Our History
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All Saints' Chapel is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the official federal list recognizing historically significant buildings, sites, objects, and districts in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. (You can read our nomination document here).
All Saints’ Episcopal Church, located at the northern edge of the University of Texas campus in Austin, was founded in 1899 as a chapel for the Young Ladies’ Church Institute, which was housed next door in Grace Hall and operated under the auspices of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. George Herbert Kinsolving, the second bishop of the diocese, founded the chapel and lived with his wife Grace Jaggar Kinsolving in the bishop’s official residence located in the same block of Whitis Avenue. Grace Hall was named in honor of Mrs. Kinsolving, whose generosity partially funded the construction of All Saints’ Chapel. Dedicated to the Glory of God and to the memory of Bishop Alexander Gregg, the first bishop of Texas, it was designed by noted Austin architect A.O. Watson; the chancel was enlarged in 1939 according to plans of San Antonio architect Marvin Eickenroht. The parish has carefully preserved the structure, adding beautiful stained-glass windows over the years.
Bishop Kinsolving chose to live in Austin because of his deep interest in working among the students, faculty, and administration of the University of Texas. From that time and for many years afterward, All Saints' and the University maintained a close association. The Bishop's chair and crosier stood in All Saints' chancel until Kinsolving's death in 1928. Although the episcopal residence moved to Houston about 1930, Bishop Kinsolving's chair, which had been a personal gift from his former church in Philadelphia, remains at All Saints'.
The Rev. Harris Masterson came as chaplain to All Saints' Chapel in 1909 and was elected as rector when All Saints' became a parish that same year. A parish house built in 1910 was replaced in the 1950s with a modern parish building; both were named Gregg House after Bishop Alexander Gregg. Parishioners gradually began coming from all parts of Austin and its environs, and the work of the parish broadened to embrace the community at large as well as the University.
Fifteen rectors have served All Saints' to date, three of whom later served as bishops: James P. Clements, Suffragan Bishop, Diocese of Texas; Joseph M. Harte, Suffragan Bishop, Diocese of Dallas, and Bishop, Diocese of Arizona; and Scott Field Bailey, Suffragan Bishop, Diocese of Texas, and Bishop, Diocese of West Texas.
The Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, later Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States, lived in Austin as Diocese of Texas Bishop Coadjutor from 1945 to 1955, and All Saints' was his parish home during that period. Bishop Hines was instrumental in establishing the Seminary of the Southwest and St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, both in Austin.
In 1975, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of All Saints', the Texas Historical Commission granted the church an Official Texas Historical Marker that recognizes the architectural and historical significance of the chapel and All Saints' parish. The City of Austin granted historic landmark status to the church in 1980, and the Texas Historical Commission designated the building a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 2014. According to his wishes, Bishop Kinsolving was buried underneath the altar, and his crypt is designated a Historic Texas Cemetery. All Saints’ Chapel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.