St. Matthias Episcopal Church
St. Matthias Episcopal Church
St. Matthias Episcopal Church
Asheville, NC 28801
Tours: Tours are available by calling the church
St. Matthias Episcopal Church is located at the top of a steep hill in at the "East End" of Asheville which is known as one of the oldest neighborhoods developed by African Americans in the city. The present church was built in 1894 and was completed in 1898.
The church is a Gothic-style building constructed in a cruciform plan with a gable roof nave. The brick walls are laid with a darker shade of headers presenting a horizontal texture to the building's surface on every face. The nave is four bays deep with the division of each bay marked by buttresses. Centered on each bay is a lancet arch window on a stone sill, topped by a brick hoodmold.
The church interior displays beautiful dark woodwork fashioned in various Gothic motifs. The walls are white plaster over a wainscot of narrow vertical sheathing. The roof is supported by a heavy timber truss system. The pulpit, lectern, altar and other furnishings are all original to the church and are decorated with trefoil arch panels, quatrefoil incisions and other Gothic elements. The interior woodwork is considered to be the most sophisticated of any church in the area built during the latter part of the 19th century.
