St. James Episcopal Church (La Grange, Texas)

St. James' Episcopal Church is a congregation of the Episcopal Church (United States) in La Grange, Texas, under the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. Its campus at Monroe and Colorado Streets includes its historic parish church as well as a sacristy, preschool, and parish hall. The community was first established on August 18, 1855, as Trinity Parish, with the Rev. Hanibal Pratt as minister. Around 1860 the name was changed to Saint James. Many congregants succumbed to a yellow fever epidemic in 1867, and the community suffered major floods in 1869 and 1870. Nevertheless, it continued to grow, meeting in an old school building it eventually outgrew. In 2019, the church reported 183 members; in 2023, it reported 141 members. No membership statistics were reported in 2024 national parochial reports. Plate and pledge financial support reported by the church in 2024 was $342,702. Average Sunday Attendance ASA reported in 2024 was 91 persons. This was a relative decrease on ASA of 110 in 2020. The Rev. W.G.W. Smith arrived in 1876, after the Reconstruction Era, and became its first full-time rector in 1881. Influenced by the Oxford Movement, he retained noted Gothic Revival architect Richard M. Upjohn in 1883 to design the current structure. After a period of fundraising, the cornerstone for the present building was laid on February 5, 1885, on land bequeathed for that purpose by promine

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