All Saints History

An Architectural Chronology of All Saints Church
1835 First Episcopal service in Worcester held in the Town Hall
1862 The Rev. William Reed Huntington, rector, conducted his first service. December 3.
1868 Choir of Men and Boys organized and rehearsed by Isaac N. Metcalf. First service sung on Palm Sunday
1874 A fire on April 7 destroys the Pearl Street Church
1877 The second All Saints Church opens, a Gothic church designed by Stephen Earle and built by Norcross Bros. of Worcester (builders of many important buildings, including the Boston Public Library and Trinity Church). During the construction, two doves fly into the church and build a nest in the rafters, considered a good omen, Dr. William Huntington (Rector 1862-1883) has a pair of doves painted in the chancel.
1897 Under Alexander H. Vinton (Rector 1884-1902), All Saints reconstructs the chancel and installs a new altar and reredos, designed by architect Henry Vaughan.
1907 All Saints installs a rood screen, designed by Ralph Adams Cram and built by Irving & Casson of Boston. Cram also designed a 1910 redecoration of the chancel, including the installation of a fresco by Danish artist Sofus Masterson, as well as restoring the doves (painted over in 1897).
1916 The cornerstone is laid for the new Parish House, designed by Ralph Adams Cram and built by Edward F. Miner Company. The facility is dedicated in 1917, and the upstairs assembly hall named after Alexander Vinton.
1928 The chapel is renamed Huntington Hall, and the chancel is converted into a library (currently the choir room.).
1932 January 19-20: Most of the 1877 church and Huntington Hall are destroyed by an arson fire, except for the tower and some exterior walls. The Parish House survives intact, although the connecting portion is partially destroyed. The Parish vault with its records survives, as well as the safe containing the communion vessels. The historic Bible, which survived the 1874 fire, is found weeks later, waterlogged in the ruins, and restored. The processional cross is rescued from the fire, and the altar cross, bent and blackened, is repaired and reused. Huntington Hall is rebuilt as a temporary Chapel, and the first services are held there on All Saints Day, 1932.
1934 Opening services are held in the third All Saints Church on Easter. Frohman, Robb, and Little architects of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., were the architects for the third All Saints, and E.J. Cross Company the builders. During construction of the third All Saints, two doves again nested in the rafters, and were again painted in the chancel.
1939 All Saints Choir of Men and Boys sang at New York World's Fair. Director William Self.
1954-
1956		 Irving Street wing of the Parish House is built. G. Adolph Johnson is the architect and the builder is the James B. Lowell Company.,