History

Like many other things in the history of Dalton, the origins of St. Mark's church may be rooted in the turbulent years of the Civil War and its aftermath. After the Confederate withdrawal from Chattanooga in November, 1863, the opposing armies spent the winter of 1863-1864 facing each other across the flooded expanse of Mill Creek Gap in the northern end of Whitfield County. During the early spring, as they awaited suitable weather for military campaigning, the Confederate troops experienced a series of intense religious revivals in which the leading role was played by the Rev. Charles Todd Quintard, an Episcopal chaplain. His vigorous preaching constitutes the earliest significant Episcopal presence in the area.

In 1866, Colonel Benjamin Green arrived from Washington, D.C., and began holding Sunday School in his law office in the courthouse. With a nucleus of persons from Tunnel Hill and Ringgold as well as from Dalton, St. Mark's mission was founded and the Rev. John J. Hunt was placed in charge.

In 1867, St. Mark's petitioned for membership in the Diocese of Georgia and was accepted by the convention held in Macon. Colonel Green donated land for a church building located at what is now 105 South Glenwood Avenue, and the cornerstone was laid in 1869. However, it was not until 1871 that the first services were held in the new structure with John Beckwith, Bishop of Georgia as officiant.

By 1869, a smaller church was built on North Pentz Street, on what is now the BB&T bank parking lot. The first church was sold in 1900 and was subsequently demolished. The cornerstone, which was later found beneath a pile of debris, was eventually installed in the second church, which seated just over 100 people. The new frame and shingle building was adorned with a tower bell tower and stubby spire.

For most of St. Mark's history, there were no resident clergy. Lay services were held, and for many years these were the mainstays of the church. Throughout most of the first half of the twentieth century, St. Mark's grew little and often did well to survive. By 1907, when the Diocese of Atlanta was formed, the church had been reduced in standing from a parish to an organized mission.

The years from 1946 to 1952 were trying, and at one time a delegation from the national Episcopal Church evaluated St. Mark's potential for survival and recommended that it close its doors. The turning point came in 1952. Seeing a promise in St. Mark's that had escaped others, Bishop Walthour assigned the Rev. Donald G. Mitchell, Jr., to the congregation as its third priest. Under his guidance and inspiration, the mission began to grow. In 1958, after nearly a century of nurturing from two dioceses and a small but steadfast band of clergy and laity, St. Mark's became a self-supporting parish.

The next decade saw the size of St. Mark's more than triple. In 1959, under the guidance of the Rev. Frank K. Allan, the congregation moved away from the picturesque little building that had been the congregation's home for over sixty years to its present location on West Emery Street.

Over the next 25 years, St. Mark's continued to grow under the guidance of The Rev. George H. Sparks, Jr., The Rev. Albert H. Hatch, The Rev. Donald L. Cramer, and The Rev. James Edwin Bacon, Jr. In February of 1990, the present rector, The Rev. C. Dean Taylor, arrived from Louisville, Kentucky, to become the seventh leader of the congregation since its revitalization in the 1950's.