A Wye Parish Timeline

Colonial Period 

  • 1694 – St. Paul’s Parish vestry records begin: Long-serving Rev. John Lillingstone is rector; Old Wye Church is one of three “chapels of ease” in the Parish.
  • 1721 – Newly-constructed Old Wye opens on St. Luke’s Day, October 18, replacing the “old church” at the head of Wye River.
  • 1729 – St. Luke’s Parish (Church Hill) divided off from St. Paul’s Parish.
  • 1748 – St. John’s Parish (Tuckahoe) divided off form St. Paul’s Parish.
  • 1762 – Vestry House at Old Wye constructed.
  • c. 1765 – West Gallery at Old Wye discussed, finally constructed in c. 1792.

American Independence 

  • 1779 – First meeting of non-established vestry of St. Paul’s Parish.
  • 1794 – First use of collection plate in St. Paul’s Parish.
  • 1796-1804 – Rev. Elisha Rigg – teaches school to eke out a living, buried in the chancel of Old Wye.
  • 1810 – St. Paul’s Parish down to “the faithful fourteen” communicants.
  • 1836 – Old Wye in disrepair, regular services no longer held.
  • 1839 – “Bell of Portugal” (1746) donated for proposed new chapel of ease in Queenstown.
  • 1842 – St. Luke’s Chapel, Queenstown, completed and consecrated.
  • 1854 – Old Wye repaired, at initiative of Bishop Whittingham and St. Paul’s vestry.
  • 1860 – Wye Parish, with Old Wye and St. Luke’s, divided off from St. Paul’s Parish; Rectory built at Old Wye.

American Civil War

  • 1890 – St. Luke’s repaired and improved following a fire in the Sanctuary.
  • 1896-1907 – Rev. Algernon Batte is Rector, Rectory at Old Wye burns down (c. 1898), new Rectory is built in Queenstown.
  • 1910 – Regular services at Old Wye again discontinued.
  • c. 1925 –Miss Susan Frisby Williams endowment to Wye Parish.

Post War Growth

  • 1949 – Old Wye restored and rededicated; Vestry House, long vanished, reconstructed.
  • c. 1950 – Nils Anderson endowment to Wye Parish
  • 1952 – Rectory built at Old Wye; deed of property from neighbor doubles size of Old Wye churchyard.
  • 1959 – Old Wye Parish Hall constructed.
  • 1961 – Gift of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. creates U.S. Trust endowment for Wye Parish.
  • 1982 – Columbarium built.
  • 1989 – St. Luke’s Parish Hall constructed.
  • 1998 – Columbarium expanded.
  • 2004 – Old Wye Church and St. Luke’s Chapel Preservation Endowments established.
  • 2006 – Wye Campaign for the Future.
  • 2007 – Implementation of Cemetery Master Plan begins.
  • 2008 – Bridge installed over creek.
  • 2009 – Kelly Terrace created.
  • 2009 – Celtic Cross installed.
  • 2009 – Houghton Terrace created.
  • 2009 –  Handicap access ramp on Parish Hall.
  • 2010 – Conservatory of Music founded.
  • 2012 – Handicap access ramp on church
  • 2013 – Brick walkways and new lamppost installed around the church
  • 2018 – Circle Project provides walkway in oval between church and parish hall.
  • 2019 – Old Wye Church and St Luke’s Chapel Preservation Endowments merged into St. Luke’s Chapel Preservation Foundation in Honor of William Saunders.
  • 2019 – Charles and Roberta Stephens Endowment Fund established for the preservation of the buildings and grounds of Old Wye.