The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer is a historic Carpenter Gothic sanctuary located at 20 East Pleasant Street (corner of North Verona Avenue) in Avon Park, Florida.[nrhp-avon-park-district][maxwell-1976] Erected in 1894, it is the oldest surviving ecclesiastical building in Avon Park and one of the finest late-nineteenth-century frame Gothic revival structures on the Lake Wales Ridge.[nrhp-avon-park-district]

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer (Episcopal), founded in 1894–1895 at North Verona Avenue and East Pleasant Street. The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida (1976), page 103. Avon Park Historical Society.[maxwell-1976]

Land Acquisition and Founding Pioneers

The site for the church at the corner of North Verona Avenue and East Pleasant Street was originally acquired by John C. Davies of Brouygader Delzelly, Wales, who purchased two town lots from the Florida Development Company before returning to Wales in November 1889.[maxwell-1976] The lots subsequently passed to the Episcopal mission organized under the Missionary Jurisdiction of Southern Florida (led by Bishop William Crane Gray).[maxwell-1976]

The pioneer organizers and charter parishioners included:

  • William King and Mary Ann (Chinn) King, the town’s first permanent settlers, who were natives of Warwickshire, England.[maxwell-1976]
  • Pioneer attorney and notary Clark D. Knapp and his wife.[maxwell-1976]
  • Merchants Benjamin Francis West and Ellis Robert West.[maxwell-1976]

Construction and the 1895 Schoolhouse Fire

The Carpenter Gothic frame chapel was erected in 1894 featuring board-and-batten siding, lancet arched windows, and decorative wood tracery.[nrhp-avon-park-district] During the summer and autumn of 1895, before the interior furnishings were fully completed, the congregation utilized the nearby public school auditorium on South Forest Avenue for larger gatherings, storing its musical instruments, altar linens, hymnals, and common prayer books in the school.[fa-1895-12-18] On 4 December 1895, a catastrophic fire destroyed the schoolhouse, consuming the church’s organ and liturgical library.[fa-1895-12-18] Services immediately resumed in the Pleasant Street chapel as replacement furnishings were secured.[fa-1895-12-18][maxwell-1976]

Clergy and Pastoral Leadership

Early clergy who served the mission included:

  • Rev. Henry J. Hayter, who conducted services and pastoral visitations across DeSoto County in 1905–1906.[dsc-1905-11-10]
  • Rev. Richard Bolton, previously priest-in-charge of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Lakeland, who relocated to Avon Park in January 1916 to assume regular pastoral oversight of the parish.[lakeland-1916-01-21]

Connection to Camp Wingmann

In the 1930s, the parish played a direct role in establishing the Episcopal Diocese of South Florida’s regional youth camp in Avon Park.[wingmann-history] Following four summer encampments at the Lake Byrd Lodge, Senior Warden John Sears Francis (proprietor of the Highlands Coca-Cola Bottling Company) donated lakefront acreage on Trout Lake north of the townsite, enabling the diocese to establish Camp Wingmann in 1939.[wingmann-history]

The historic sanctuary at 20 East Pleasant Street sits two blocks north of the linear National Register Avon Park Historic District (which is restricted to Main Street). Documented in the Florida Master Site File, it stands as the oldest surviving ecclesiastical building and the oldest documented standing structure in the municipality of Avon Park.[maxwell-1976]

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida: 1870-1970 (references/the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md) (1976)
  2. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form - Avon Park Historic District (1990)
  3. The Florida Agriculturist (DeLand, Fla.), The Florida Agriculturist, 18 December 1895, page 5: Avon Park school house burned (1895)
  4. The De Soto County News (Arcadia, Fla.), The De Soto County News, 10 November 1905, page 1: Avon Park Locals (references/de-soto-county-news-avon-park-department.md) (1905)
  5. The Lakeland Evening Telegram (Lakeland, Fla.), The Lakeland Evening Telegram, 21 January 1916, page 1: Rev. Richard Bolton called to Avon Park (1916)
  6. Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, History of Camp Wingmann, Avon Park (entities/camp-wingmann.md) (2026)

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