Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes
| Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes | |
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| Basic information | |
| Location | 1215 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, D.C. |
| Affiliation | Episcopal Church in the United States of America |
| Country | United States of America |
| Status | active |
| Leadership | The Rev. Fr. Dominique Peridans - Priest in Charge |
| Website | www.asa-dc.org |
| Architectural description | |
| Architect(s) | Charles L. Carson, Thomas Dixon |
| Architectural type | church |
| Architectural style | Gothic |
| Completed | 1874 |
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| Added to NRHP | January 19, 1984 |
| NRHP Reference no. | 84000863 |
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Church of the Ascension
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| Location | 1215 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, District of Columbia |
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| Coordinates | 38°54′18″N 77°1′43″W / 38.90500°N 77.02861°WCoordinates: 38°54′18″N 77°1′43″W / 38.90500°N 77.02861°W |
| Area | 0.3 acres (0.12 ha) |
| Built | 1874 |
| Architect | Thomas Dixon; Charles L. Carson |
| Architectural style | Gothic |
| NRHP reference # | 84000863 |
| Added to NRHP | January 19, 1984 |
The Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes is an Episcopal church building located at 1215 Massachusetts Avenue in Northwest Washington, D.C., USA. The current structure built in 1874 as the Church of the Ascension was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. In the late 1940s, the Church of the Ascension merged with the nearby St. Agnes Episcopal Church and adopted its present name, under which it has continued as an active parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.
On May 7, 1844, several residents of northwest Washington who had previously attended services at St. John's Episcopal Church in the Lafayette Square neighborhood met to begin forming their own parish. The church was formally established March 1, 1845, and the territory of St. John's was split between the two churches. While the church raised funds to construct a building, the members met in a schoolhouse on 9th Street.
Parishioner Martha Burnes was the owner of 600 acres of Washington real estate, which she had inherited. In 1802, she married John Peter Van Ness, who was a prominent banker and later became Mayor of Washington. Among Mrs. Van Ness's philanthropic endeavors was the Washington Orphan Asylum, which she established and supervised. Mrs. Van Ness expressed a desire to help the building effort, but died before this could happen. In accordance with her wishes, Mr. Van Ness donated land on H Street NW between 9th and 10th to Ascension Parish, and the cornerstone was laid September 5, 1844.
The Gothic Revival brick structure was complete enough to use by December 1844, and the first services were held December 14. The debt the parish incurred for construction was repaid by 1853, and the church was consecrated May 23 of that year. Throughout the 1850s, however, the parish continued to experience difficulties, which included the ill health of its rector, Levin I. Gilliss, resignation of his successor, a decline in the number of communicants and Sunday school attendees, and continued financial problems.
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