Deadwood dollars help Rapid City church's light shine through

By Mary Garrigan, Journal staff | Thursday, December 04, 2008

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Lynn Von Wald loves the sunlight that streams into the sanctuary at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rapid City these days, giving the congregation a brand new view of its historic 120-year-old stained glass windows.

"The light coming in is just fabulous. It's a world of difference," Von Wald said of the dozen stained glass windows that each got a new protective coating of clear Plexiglass recently, thanks to a $16,000 grant from the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission.

Seeing the windows from inside the sanctuary is nice, but sharing them with passers-by on Quincy Street is even better, she said.

"What we feel really good about is that people can see them from the outside now," Von Wald said. "It's something we can share with the outside world."

The old window coating, in place since 1977, had grown opaque, obscuring the amount of light that filtered through the stained glass.

"That's what happens to 30-year-old Plexiglass. It gets very clouded," Von Wald said. "We knew it had clouded. We just didn't realize how much."

Emmanuel Episcopal, finished in 1888 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is the oldest church in continuous use in Rapid City. It was awarded a grant from Deadwood's historic preservation office because of one of the church's earliest members: Annie Tallent. Tallent, the first white woman in Dakota Territory, was a member at Emmanuel, and her son and daughter-in-law were the first couple married in the church. That wedding took place sometime in 1887 or early 1888, according to church records.

The stained glass windows are original to the sandstone church, but little is known about their origin or artistry. "We have no record of who made them or where they came from," Von Wald said.

Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission awards $250,000 annually to preservation projects outside of Deadwood, if there is some connection to Deadwood's heritage and history. In the past seven years, the commission has awarded $1.75 million outside Deadwood city limits from tax money generated from gambling revenues.

Grants are awarded twice per year; application deadline for the next round is Jan. 2.

Von Wald, who wrote the grant application, said the church was grateful to the commission. "There are so many things to do with a more than 100-year-old church that the windows just got put off. They made this possible," she said.

Emmanuel spent about $7,500 on resealing the windows. The remainder of the grant will be spent to restore the historical integrity of the church.