Old St. Peter's Episcopal Church is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites in Los Angeles, California, which have been designated by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria.-History:...

 located in the San Pedro

San Pedro, Los Angeles, California

San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...

 section of Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, near the Port of Los Angeles

Port of Los Angeles

The Port of Los Angeles, also called Los Angeles Harbor and WORLDPORT L.A, is a port complex that occupies of land and water along of waterfront. The port is located on San Pedro Bay in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, approximately south of downtown...

. Built in 1883 in the Carpenter Gothic

Carpenter Gothic

Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters...

 Victorian architecture

Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 style, it is San Pedro's oldest church.

History

Using the same hand tools that were used to build ships, local residents built St. Peter’s in 1883. The first service was held in April 1884 at the original location on Beacon Street, between 2nd and 3rd Street, on what was then Nob Hill. The church was designed in the Carpenter Gothic style of Victorian architecture, and measured only 21 feet by 60 feet. It has 110 hand-hewn pews, plain white walls, and a lectern supported by an angel carved out of redwood. The furnishings and paneling were made of redwood brought from Northern California on sailing vessels. In a profile of the church published in 1968, the Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

described the old church as looking "like a dollhouse," but "with the rough-hewn charm of a 19th century ship."
Until approximately 1900, the church was used for both Catholic and Protestant services. Its steeple was lighted at night with a lantern, and from its location on Nob Hill, it served as a beacon for ships approaching the port. In 1904, St. Peter’s was moved to Tenth and Mesa Streets in the Vinegar Hill

Vinegar Hill

Vinegar Hill could refer to:*Vinegar Hill , a 1999 novel by A. Manette Ansay.*Vinegar Hill , a 2005 TV-Movie starring Mary-Louise Parker...

 section of San Pedro. The steeple fell off in the move to Vinegar Hill and was replaced with a belfry the still exists.

Vacant

By 1953, the congregation had outgrown the small church, which had room for only 100 parishioners. A new St. Peter's was built, and the old church was left vacant and in danger of demolition. A group of local residents persuaded the city to accept and maintain the church, provided the group could raise $5,000 to move it to Harbor View Memorial Park. The fundraising effort succeeded, and St. Peter’s was moved to its present location in September 1956. The church was deconsecrated and rededicated as a memorial chapel, which is open for special occasions, including weddings and music recitals.

In October, 2008, there are plans to move the church from Harbor View Cemetery in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, to Green Hills Memorial Park, in the city of Palos Verdes Estates, California

Palos Verdes Estates, California

Palos Verdes Estates is a city, incorporated in 1939, in Los Angeles County, California, USA on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The city was masterplanned by the noted American landscape architect and planner Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. The population was 13,438 at the 2010 census, up from 13,340 in the...

.