All the literature for St. James Episcopal Church states that it was organized in 1881, and that church members met in local schools before they had their own church building. I admit to being skeptical of that date and believe 1891—when James Loren began developing East North Broadway and donated a lot on Beech Hill Avenue (now called Calumet Street) for the church–is nearer to the mark. Some sundry facts about this, the oldest continually running Clintonville church:
• The original exterior was a Tudor Revival Style. The cornerstone was laid in 1894, and the mission was consecrated in 1896.
• The church was enlarged to a seating capacity of 200 in 1927; that was also when the church building got indoor toilets.
• The original church was traditionally covered with ivy. The ivy growing on the church grew from a shoot brought from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, which in turn got its ivy from somewhere in “old England.”
(Photo courtesy of St. James Episcopal Church)