St Peter's Episcopal Church, 2910 North Starr Street in Old Tacoma (W.T.) Photograph courtesy of the John Ogden Collection. At the time of this August, 1888, photograph, St. Peter's was 15 years old. The small (21 x 45-foot) Carpenter Gothic church was built in only ten days in August of 1873 on land donated by Edward S. "Skookum" Smith and Captain Starr. It is Tacoma's oldest church. As the label on the photograph notes, St. Peter's had the oldest church tower in the United States. An aged fir, cut at 48-feet, served as the bell tower. The age of the tree trunk was used in the calculation of the tower's age. The original tree was replaced by a new tower in 1935 when it was damaged by a windstorm. St. Peter's Episcopal Church is on the City and National Register. TPL-10166

St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Tacoma); Episcopal churches--Tacoma;

ca. 1888. St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 602 Broadway, Tacoma, W.T. This circa 1888 photograph shows a man barely visible who is hanging from the side of the spire. The English Gothic-styled church may have been in the process of some kind of repair as there are timbers sticking through the openings of the tower. It was built of gray sandstone in 1883 in tribute to Kate Elizabeth Wright, the daughter of Charles Barstow Wright. Photograph courtesy of the John Ogden Collection. TPL-10171

St. Luke's Episcopal Church (Tacoma); Episcopal churches--Tacoma;