In 1807 Reverend Phelps Davenport began holding regular worship services in Palmyra. On June 23, 1823 the Zion Episcopal Church was organized with Rufus Murray as the reverend. In mid-January 1827, it was resolved to obtain subscriptions to build a church. A monetary payment of $25 or more entitled the subscriber to a pew in the church. Deacon Reverend John A. Clark was in charge of the building project. By May 11, 1827 the decision was made to construct a gothic church that would be 40-feet by 50-feet or 20,000 square feet. The square feet was later increased to 2200.
A lot was purchased at 120 E. Main Street from the George W. Cuyler estate. In the deed, and the purchase price of $300, Thomas Baldwin was given life rights to a pew. On September 28, 1827, the cornerstone of the First Zion Church was laid. The Masonic fraternity took part in the cornerstone laying which included Masonic Rights. A manuscript containing the names of important people in the Zion Church, presidents of the United States, and the Wayne Sentinel was placed inside the cornerstone. The building was reported completed on January 30, 1829 in the Wayne Sentinel. John A. Clark is viewed today as the “Father of the Zion Church.”
It wasn’t until 1872 that the present church building was constructed. The tower next to the building, which measures 18 feet squared and 125 feet tall and built in 1873, was funded and donated by the George W. Cuyler estate. The present church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (Stuart E. Hotchkiss, Zion Episcopal Church, Palmyra, New York: From its beginning to the End of the 20th Century, 2008; Loreen Jorgensen, The First Hundred Churches of Wayne County, New York, 2018). Phone number (315) 597-9236
Baldwin, Thomas
Clark, John Alonzo – pastor
Colt, Joseph S.
Cuyler, George W.
Gear, Ezekiel – rector
Jerome, Hiram – vestryman
Linnell, Haskill