About Us

Our History

The congregation of St. Mary's Episcopal Church was organized in 1859, but the parish became dormant during the Civil War when services were held irregularly. Twenty years later, on July 6, 1879, the congregation appointed a committee to coordinate fund raising to build a church. The church's cornerstone was laid on August 1, 1879; the completed church was consecrated by the second bishop of the Diocese of Florida, John Freeman Young, on May 1, 1883.

St. Mary's Episcopal Church is a good example of the Carpenter Gothic architectural style and is one of the oldest churches in Florida. Carpenter Gothic architecture is an adaption of the Gothic Revival style, which was popularized in the United States by architect Richard Upjohn. Bishop Young was a confidant of Upjohn, and he advocated the construction of Carpenter Gothic style churches around Florida.

St. Mary's Episcopal Church is distinguished by a steep roof, scissor trusses, pointed arch windows and doors, and decorative stained glass. The only additions to the church since its construction have been air conditioning, memorials, and a parish hall extension.

St. Mary's Episcopal Church was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, and was designated a Florida Heritage site in 2013.

Madison, Florida

Madison County, Florida is a faraway place that's not far away. We are located off I-10 near I-75 and only a short drive from Tallahassee and Jacksonville.

Neslted against the Georgia boarder, just south of Valdosta, we offer an unexpected wealth of pleasures to our visitors. For the history-minded, there are centuries-old landmarks, homes, communities and antique shops. For the nature lover, every imaginable recreation is available in our broad expanses of forests, rivers, lakes and springs, where bike trails, canoe trails, equestrian paths and hiking trails around. The town of Madison, with a population just over 3000 is designated one of the Best Little Towns in Florida by VISIT FLORIDA, the state tourism development agency.

An exploration of Madison County's past can be as tame and pleasant as a stroll past the 32 featured landmarks within the City of Madison, or as ambitious as a study of some of the 84 cemeteries that have been identified within Madison County. At one point in our history, there were 20 communities here, and their traces still survive.

Click here for more information at http://madisonfl.org

Memorial Garden

Our memorial garden was developed in 2016 to commemorate previous members of our congregation. The memorial garden is a Gift of Love from two of our members that have worked tiredlessly to create and maintain this beautiful area.

Before this beautiful garden was planted, there sat a dead Magnolia tree among a rusty old swing set. Gale Dickert, a master gardener, with her

knowledge built a great, awesome and beautiful asset for our Church. It is in memory of people that were a part of St. Mary's. The Garden is now beautifully kept with the same love by Brenda

Newman. Both Gale and Brenda certainly show us Gods blessings in our beautiful garden which we all enjoy so much.

The beautiful three tiered water fountain was donated by Dale and Jean Stone.

Recently this garden was used to allow our congregation to pick up items for the Easter season. We had palms, palm crosses available to pick up. We also had a bowl of water for those that wished to wash their feet during Maundy Thursday.