Fort George G. Meade: The First 100 Years

Epiphany Chapel and Church House
WORLD WAR I YEARS
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“On Monday, June 3, 1918, in Odenton, a chapel
for the benefit of the soldiers at Camp Meade was
dedicated by Bishop John Gardner Murray, assisted
by Bishop Thomas J. Garland of Pennsylvania. The
chapel was named Epiphany after the church in
Washington attended by Mrs. Margaret Buckingham
and Miss Elizabeth Freeman, the donors of the
building and furniture. This service was attended
by many of the clergy and laity from the dioceses
of Maryland, Washington, and Pennsylvania:
General Nicholson, Commandant of Camp Meade
and a number of officers and soldiers from the camp.
In addition to the chapel, the building contained a
dormitory for the accommodation of chaplains and
visitors to the doughboys. Meanwhile the old church
which had ministered to the needs of the people
in this part of Anne Arundel County was forced
to discontinue its ministrations to some extent,
because it was situated in the heart of the camp.
It became a building devoted almost exclusively to
war purposes. Finally it burned, apparently due to
carelessness on the part of officers or soldiers of the
camp. At the conclusion of the World War and the
returning soldiers being mustered out of the service,
the usefulness of Epiphany Chapel as a war chapel
vanished. The building was then turned over to the
communicants of the old parish, St. Peters, for use
as a parish church.”
This brief account of the establishment of Epiphany
Chapel and Church House, now recognized as the only
known WWI Chapel in the United States, was published
in The Maryland Churchman in December 1936. It was
the introduction to an impassioned appeal for donations
to preserve the chapel, which was in need of a new roof
and other repairs. The writer, George D. Watts, compared
the chapel in Odenton to the chapel at Valley Forge and
Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia “Generations yet
unborn,” he pleaded, “will visit this hallowed place if it
is perpetuated for them.” The life and condition of the
chapel ebbed and waned for another 50 years as it shifted
with the economic and demographic tides. Its proud
By Dr. Phebe McPherson
history as a World War chapel was all but lost, save for
a scrapbook compiled by the chaplains who staffed the
chapel in 1918. It was this scrapbook, carefully preserved
by Garner Rainey, archivist for The Diocese of Maryland,
which was rediscovered in 1987 and made it possible for
the recognition and restoration of the chapel. Among
many financial supporters is The Maryland Historical
Trust, which holds three legal easements on the property to
ensure its preservation. The original scrapbook contained
photographs, schedules, news articles, contracts, and
letters that would be pieced together in order to discover
the story of the chapel and lead to its preservation.
Over a 30-year period, The Rev. Dr. Phebe McPherson
and members of the Epiphany congregation raised the
funds necessary to complete the project and in addition
established a chaplain’s peace garden naming every WWI
chaplain on bronze plaques and a social history museum
with a collection of trench art, posters, books, furniture,
photographs and music. Currently the congregation is
redesigning its cemetery as the WWI Centennial Memorial
Gardens to include a WWI Centennial sculpture.
McPherson serves as a commissioner for the Maryland
WWI Centennial Commission.
Discovering Epiphany Chapel and Church House is
like finding a valuable coin mixed in the jar of pennies you
had almost forgotten. To the casual eye, the little white
church appears to be a quaint cottage of yesterday, a bit
like “grandma’s house.” In fact, it was designed and given
gratis by Riggin Buckler and represents a fine example of
the Arts and Crafts period in American architecture. The
front stoop is worn where so many feet have passed, the
center floor beam is weighed down with memories, and
a discernible spirit of hospitality shines like the patina on
the old oak furniture. It’s obvious the moment you enter
that this is a place where people have “kept the home fires
burning” for their loved ones who were far from home in
trenches fighting a war that all hoped would be “the war
to end all wars.”
Providing the chapel was the Rev. Taggart Steele’s idea.
He wanted to establish a place where chaplains could help
support the troops who were being deployed through