St George, the Round Church

St George’s Church, Also known as the round church, when built in 1800 was completly circular. This was the first round building in North America, though the type was well known in England. the Design is Credited to John Merrick, though it may have been copied from the 1728 “Book of Architecture” by James Gibbs, and it is from this source that St. Pauls was Copied.

In the plans below, you can see the original entryway (denoted by the Dashed Lines) was also circular.

it is believed that the design selection was heavily influenced by Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, Who favored Round Palladian Architectural styles. The roundness was based on the principles that the circle was the most perfect shape; and that by building a round church the devil could not hide in a corner.

Original Round Entry

The Square entry was added in 1911. The church was heavily damaged by fire in 1994, however it was rebuilt. A portion of the damaged round, can be seen behind the main stairs to the left of the entryway.