DATE: Monday, October 6, 1997               TAG: 9710030850

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   27 lines

INTERSECTION OF NORFOLK'S FREEMASON AND CUMBERLAND STREETS, 1890S

This engraving, dating from the 1890s, shows the intersection of

Norfolk's Freemason and Cumberland streets. The classic-columned

portico of the Willoughby-Baylor House, the subject of my column

today, is on the left. Pay particular attention to the church with

the sharply pointed spire in the center of the picture. It is Christ

Episcopal Church built in 1827, the forerunner of Christ and St.

Luke's Episcopal Church in Ghent today. Later, the edifice was

occupied by Norfolk's Greek Orthodox congregation. Still later,

before it was demolished by the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing

Authority, it was used by the congregation of the United House of

Prayer for All People headed by Bishop ``Sweet Daddy'' Grace. Take

note of the two-horse carriage making its bumpy way over the

Freemason Street cobblestones and the top-hatted and derby sporting

gents conversing in the left-hand corner. The tree to their left

obscures temporarily spireless Freemason Street Baptist Church,

whose original steeple had been blown down in the memorable wind and

rainstorm that devastated Norfolk on Aug. 18, 1879.

- GEORGE H. TUCKER

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