(The following information is excerpted from "Side By Side",
written by Bill Maloney, under the direction of John Ballentine,
in nomination of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church and the William Hale House
to the National Register of Historic Places.)
(The following information is excerpted from
"Side By Side",
written by Bill Maloney, under the direction of John Ballentine,
in nomination of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church and the William Hale House
to the National Register of Historic Places.)
The William Hale House:
William Hale was born in Portsmouth, NH on August 6, 1765 and arrived in Dover around 1794 to become a partner in his older brother Samuel's business. The Hale brothers were for many years the town's leading merchants. William Hale represented New Hampshire in the U.S. Congress from 1809 to 1811 and again again from 1813 to 1817; and at various times served as representative, senator and counsellor in state government. When Mr. Hale died on November 8, 1848, he was "Dover's oldest, wealthiest, and most respected citizen". For such a man, the building of a house had to have civic, cultural, and emblematic significance. The site was on Central Street (now Central Avenue), where the current Dover City Hall is located. The house, designed by Bradbury Johnson, was constructed during the summer of 1806, at a cost slightly exceeding $3,000. It was impressive, as intended, with an ornamental pool that, shaded by trees, surrounded the house. It was, at the time, called "Dover's finest Federal-style three-story dwelling".
When President James Monroe visted Dover on July 17, 1817, he was entertained and accomodated for the night in William Hale's house. Toward the end of General Lafayette's year-long triumphal tour of the United States, he also visited Dover. Following a ceremonial dinner at the town hall, he attended a party at William Hale's mansion. That night - June 23, 1825 - the aged French aristocrat and the thriving American entrepreneur both slept in the large guest chamber on the second floor. It is from this celebrated visit that the mansion of William Hale became commonly known as "the Lafayette house". When William Hale died, ownership of the house passed to his daughter, Lydia R. Hale, and upon her death, to Sarah Low, her niece and Hale's granddaughter.
On September 22, 1839, the Church of St. Thomas was formally organized. The parish, under the leadership of its first rector, the Rev. William Horton, purchased a lot on the north side of the mansion and built the church, a wooden Gothic Revival building with tall spire and many pinnacles, during 1840. By the late 1880's the City of Dover purchased the Hale House/St. Thomas' Church site to build its central offices. The church was torn down and the Hale House was moved to its present site in the middle of the south side of Hale Street. In 1901, the Hale House was purchased by St. Thomas' Church.
In December 1980, nomination was approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the William Hale House was entered into the National Register of Historic Places.
St. Thomas' Episcopal Church:
On September 3, 1890, the church Vestry contracted for "the building of a Church and Chapel" in accordance with plans created by Henry Vaughn of Boston, to be built of stone.
Mr. Vaughn was recognized at the time as the pre-eminent designer of Anglican ecclesiastical architecture in the United States. On June 4, 1891, it was decided that the church only would be built at that time, with the Chapel to be built later. Digging for the foundation began on June 29, 1891. Some stones in the walls of the church were taken from various parts of the state and country and set by individual parishioners. The first service in the new church was held on Sunday, September 4, 1892.
The church is a Gothic style building that has been modeled on the English country parish churches of the Perpendicular Period, particularly those in Somerset and the Cotswolds. The most prominent feature is the square, battlemented tower at the northwest corner, onto the outer corner of which is attached a round turret capped with a conical roof. The architectural, and artistic, significance of the interior of the church is found in the contribution of all the details to a single effect: that of creating a space in which a satisying balance between verticals and horizontals characteristic of the Perpendicular style is achieved.
The building was consecrated by the Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Edward M. Parker, on Sunday, September 17, 1916. In June 1984, this "minor masterpiece" which is St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, was placed on the National Register of Historical Places.
