By William “Skip” Deegans
Shown in this photo from the late 1800s is the first St. James Episcopal Church in Lewisburg. Due in large part to the largesse of Caroline Bloomer, a summer resident of Greenbrier County, the church was built in 1881. Bloomer of Washington, DC, spent her summers at Tuscawilla, her home in Fairlea, and later on the Creigh farm.
She was the daughter of James S. Craft, a wealthy Pittsburgh lawyer and real estate investor.
The church lay on Washington Street adjacent to what is now the Humble Tomato restaurant. A stained glass window in the front was installed in memory of the Rev. Thomas Hugo Lacy who was the first minister. Membership in the church dwindled, and in 1939 a petition to close it was granted by the bishop. Remaining members attended services in White Sulphur Springs or Ronceverte. That same year, the trustees leased the church and lot for a gasoline filling station. At some point, the church was razed and replaced with a building more functional as a service station.
Interest in the Episcopal Church was rekindled in the 1940s, and services were held from 1943-1949 in the John A. Preston Community House with students attending from Greenbrier College and Greenbrier Military School. The Washington Street property was sold in 1948 to Esso Standard Oil Company for $20,000. For several years the property was known as Mays’ Esso Service Station. In 1978, it was purchased by the Griffith-Bryant Ford dealership. The lot is now occupied by a municipal parking lot and the Del Sol restaurant.
Proceeds from the sale to Esso were used by the Episcopal Church to purchase property on Church Street for a new church. Ground was broken in 1951 for St. James, and it was dedicated in 1952.
Photo courtesy of the West Virginia University West Virginia & Regional History Center.
Sources: History of St. James Lewisburg by Julie Ford, Inventory of the Church Archives of WV, Staunton Spectator, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.