Life on Delmarva: Makemie Memorial Presbyterian Church

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Makemie Memorial Presbyterian Church | Snow Hill, Maryland

While visiting the town of Snow Hill for the annual Blessing of the Combines, I had the opportunity to walk over and take a few photographs of this lovely church next to the county courthouse. Architecturally stunning in on many levels from the outside, I set a goal of returning in the near future to attend a service here as well as to view the interior. Buildings like these are commonly found across the Delmarva Peninsula, however not all are this well maintained and sadly, many houses of worship are being lost. This one was simply a visual delight with all the details, brickwork and design elements!

Makemie Memorial Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian church located in Snow Hill, a small town on Maryland's eastern shore. Below is a brief summary of the building as stated on Wikipedia, followed by other links I came across.

History (via Wikipedia): "The church was established by immigrants from England, Scotland, and Ulster. Makemie Memorial is generally regarded as being the first church in America to issue a call to a pastor, although others say that the call was actually issued through an Anglican, William Stevens, and that Rev. Francis Makemie (1658 – 1708) actually first preached near Stevens' home parish, Coventry Parish further south in Rehoboth and established Rehobeth Presbyterian Church before this community.

The original church building was a log structure located within a block of the Pocomoke River, which in 1683 was the main means of travel in the area given the vast wet-lands in Worcester County. The second structure was a frame building built on the current property on West Market Street, but it was built close to the center of the grave yard on the top of the little rise. That building burned and was replaced by a brick structure on the same spot. That building served for a number of years until it too was damaged by fire. In 1883, for the 200th anniversary of the organization of the church, it was resolved to build a Makemie Memorial Church in honor of Reverend Makemie.

The present building designed by noted Philadelphia architect Isaac Pursell. It was started in 1887 and dedicated on June 29, 1890. Two other churches with similar names were established around the same time in Accomac, Virginia near where Rev. Makemie spent his final years and died.

It is a Gothic Revival structure built of red brick with red sandstone trim. There are five beautiful memorial windows in the sanctuary and the vaulted ceiling is supported by hand-hewn, exposed wooded arches. It has two unequal tall towers. Maryland Senator Ephraim King Wilson II (1821 - 1891) is buried in the adjacent graveyard, as are former Governor John Walter Smith (1845-1925) and his wife.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008".