He said that over the next several weeks, "every finish in the interior would have to go," meaning that all the water-soaked plaster would have to be pulled off the walls. He opened a box in the church vestibule that once held hymnals and other materials. Mold and mildew were beginning to form.
Much of the heaviest damage was confined to the church's Chestnut Avenue side. Its main sanctuary had less fire damage, although its was heavily soaked by water.
"What struck me about the church was that its interior woodwork was so beautiful," said James Adajian, a furniture and wood restorer who visited the church for community meetings related to a sewer construction project. "It had such a well-maintained feel, and its interior had never been changed or jazzed up. It was really a little gem."
According to a report in The Sun, the church was dedicated Jan. 19, 1878. The article noted it as "a handsome edifice of Falls Road granite and rough marble trimmings" that would seat 650 people. The interior was finished in black walnut and chestnut.
The church's construction costs were donated by David Carroll, an owner of the Mount Vernon textile mill, the complex of 19th-century industrial buildings that also survive in the Jones Falls Valley below the church.
Carroll's mills - which produced canvas and cotton duck, as well as thread, used in ship sails - were powered by steam and water. The Mount Vernon Mills ceased making textiles more than four decades ago. His largest property was converted into studio space known as the Mill Center in the 1980s.
Carroll lived in a large stone house nearby. Today, it is the headquarters of the Florence Crittenden Services of Baltimore.
"We keep a copy of his will at the church," said Dean, the church trustee president. "When he died, he spread his money around - to Morgan State, Goucher and American University."
jacques.kelly@baltsun.com
