William B. Stokes (son of the city’s founding father, Robert Young Stokes) donated land for a chapel to be built at the northwest corner of Union and Congress Avenues. St. John’s Episcopal Church was formed as part of St. George’s Parish, located in nearby Perryman, nine miles south of town. Financing for the church building was through a lottery set up by the City Commissioners in 1803 for its construction (and other purposes). During the burning of the town by the British on May 3, 1813, troops rode horses into the building and completely destroyed the interior, pews, pulpit, and windows. John H. O’Neill, Defender of Havre de Grace, was a Vestryman of St. John’s and was captured on that day.

St. John’s Episcopal Church is known to have been one of the first churches to eliminate the “slave balcony” for worship and has been a safe haven for all since the early 1800s. It also is one of the oldest surviving structures in the city, despite being hit by lightening and burned in 1832. Only the four walls, which were 18 inches thick, remained standing. After being rebuilt in 1833, the church auctioned off pews to raise money for the rector’s salary (Rev. Edward Young Higbee was appointed in 1829.) Abraham Jarrett Thomas (of 501 St. John Street) was the first to buy a pew. During a shortage of funding in the late 1800s, Clarence C. Pusey (1864-1922) and his wife, Mattie Parker Pusey (1868-1941), donated half of the pews to St. John’s; a three-paneled stained glass window over the altar was given in memory of Washington P. Chew and Mary H. Chew; two memorial tablets, one in memory of John William O’Neill (1845-1931, and grandson of John O’Neill) and the other in memory of Eliza Jane Leattour O’Neill; and an unusual litany desk supported by two finely carved angels was given in memory of Robert Rodgers. Other loyal and generous parishioners included Murray Vandiver (1845-1916) and his wife Annie. A Sunday School building was added in 1888.

Because in the early 1950s it was discovered that the church building had been damaged by termites, a major rehabilitation with improvements was conducted. In the late 1950s the church purchased the large dwelling (which had been owned by Richard Leithiser and family) next to the Parish House on Union Avenue to be used by the minister. In 1958 Father Paul Leatherbury moved into that home. In 1966, the manse west of the church on Congress Avenue was demolished and replaced by St. John’s Towers, a senior living facility. The parish hall, education building, office and rectory were built behind the church on Congress Avenue in 1988.

This property received an award from the Havre de Grace Historic Preservation Commission in 2009. In 2015 the church received a grant of $7,000 from Preservation Maryland which was used for restoration of the belfry. In 2017, the Church celebrated an extensive renovation of the sanctuary with a dedication of a new organ. St. John’s has been led by Rev. James T. Snodgrass since 2013.

County Records
Built 1867. 5040 sq ft, 6000 sq ft lot. Exempt commercial.