Saint Agnes’ Episcopal Church

St. Agnes’ Episcopal Church was organized in 1898 after Reverend James O. S. Huntington, a visiting Episcopalian Father Superior, discovered that Anglican Bahamians had no place in which to worship. The first service was held in a private home on NW 2nd Avenue near Flagler Street. In 1901, Bahamian worshippers built the first St. Agnes’ church building on a large corner lot donated by Henry Flagler at NW 3rd Avenue and NW 8th Street. St. Agnes’ was chosen as a name because “so many parishioners identified themselves with St. Agnes’ Church in Nassau.”

Reverend John E. Culmer joined the church in 1929, and worked to complete the delayed construction of the St Agnes Church building seen today (in 1930). After becoming disturbed over the tuberculosis deaths of several of his young parishioners, Rev. Culmer began a crusade to improve conditions in his community, bringing his concerns to the attention of the Greater Miami Negro Civic League and volunteering to serve as chairman of the league’s fact-finding committee. By the early 1930s, his crusade won the attention and support of the editor of the Miami Herald, who published a series of columns on the unhealthy conditions in Overtown. 

St. Agnes’ Episcopal Church was designated a historical site in 2003. 

References

St. Agnes Episcopol Church Historic Designation Report, 2003. 

//www.theblackarchives.org/archon/?p=digitallibrary/digitalcontent&id=67

//www.library.miami.edu/ohp-overtown-chronology.html