Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: The Church of the Good Shepherd (known as "The Chapel") was established in 1882 by the Right Reverend Henry Benjamin Whipple, the first Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Minnesota, who wintered in Maitland because of poor health. Bishop Whipple envisioned his church as “. . . a place where the poorest man on earth may find here his Saviour's home.” The property for the church was donated by Mr. C.H. Hall in 1875. The church’s congregation formally began in 1879, when its members met in the parlor of Bishop Whipple’s house across the street from the present church. The church was designed by architect Charles C. Haight of New York City, and was constructed in 1883 by builder James A. McGuire. The timber frame building is an excellent example of the Carpenter Gothic style, and has a rectangular nave, a belfry with a tall pyramidal roof, and unusual triangular battens in its board and batten exterior. The church’s original 1884 stained glass windows were designed by Charles Booth in the Aesthetic Style, and are exceptional examples of this rare type of design in stained glass. The Church of the Good Shepherd was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.