Parish History
Our Legacy
"Oh ye Frost and Cold, Bless ye the Lord;
Praise Him and Magnify Him Forever!"*
*Inscription on the mission bell at Allakaket, Ak.
Throughout the early years of its existence, the small town of Anchorage sat high on a bluff above Cook Inlet and was comprised of six gravel streets which ran about 20 blocks from east to west. All Saints’ was the only Episcopal Church present. Following World War II, as more people moved to town and began spreading south, some families asked the Bishop of Alaska if they could start a mission to accommodate this new area.
- On November 28, 1954 the first service of St. Mary’s was held in a garage in the Anchor Homes subdivision on the northern end of Lake Otis Street, now a four lane paved parkway. The Reverend Philip Jerauld became the priest in charge. The following summer, Marcie and Roger Waldron donated five and one-half acres of their homestead at the corner of Lake Otis and Tudor Road, with a spectacular view of the Chugach Range. A basement was completed there in time for the first service on October 2, 1955. Local residents questioned putting a church in such a remote location, but 44 years later, the corner of Lake Otis and Tudor has become the busiest intersection in town.
Mary Waldron Trent breaks ground
for St. Mary's at the corner of
Lake Otis and Tudor Roads.
St. Mary's Church completed in 1958,
used as the Sanctuary until 1993.
- In May of 1958 the church building was completed and the Reverend Sandy Zabriskie took Philip Jerauld’s place. St. Mary’s then began to grow at a rapid pace, with a rectory and bell tower added by 1962. The Sunday school outgrew the Quonset hut in the parking lot, so in 1967 the next addition was the ground floor of a Christian education building (built on the hillside so all the rooms have full windows.) The granting of aided-parish status soon followed, and in 1969 the Reverend Charles (Chuck) Eddy was called following the departure of Sandy Zabriskie. Anchorage’s population was growing rapidly on the heels of the discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay in 1968, and St. Mary’s population also was growing. The church gained full parish status in 1971, and the Christian education building, Waldron Hall, was completed a few years later. An associate rector and a secretary were then hired on a full-time basis.
- Growth continued unabated as oil began flowing through the newly built pipeline, and the rectory was transformed into offices when the Eddys purchased their own home. St. Mary’s also helped to start new missions in south and east Anchorage. In 1984 the vestry decided to purchase three and one-half acres of wooded land adjacent to St. Mary’s. This move was prompted in part by city plans to widen the busy intersection at Lake Otis and Tudor and the resulting interchange would have wiped out our church.
The original Sanctuary. The pipe organ, installed
in 1985, was moved to the new facility in 1993.
In 1991, faced with overcrowded facilities, St. Mary’s undertook a major fund-raising campaign. It netted $2.2 million, given by 270 donors, leaving a relatively small mortgage of $150,000. By 1993, the parish built a large new addition which connects the old church building to Waldron Hall. This provides a modern sanctuary with chairs and glass windows looking out on the mountains, seating approximately 300 people. The new building added a number of classrooms below, a paneled library off the narthex, two small meeting rooms, an enlarged Waldron Hall and a commercial-grade kitchen. The old church now houses a chapel and five offices, with the large basement room serving as meeting space for 26 AA and other 12 step groups.
- Today the beige-brown buildings, surrounded by lawns and colorful flower gardens in the warm months, are in full use from early morning until late at night. They stand like a Christian sentinel above the intersection and commercial neighborhood beyond, a beacon for the many community outreach activities and building user groups as well.