St. Paul's Anglican Church was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1989 because:

- it is a significant example of a mission church in the Gothic Revival Style.

Constructed in 1902 to serve the new settlement at Dawson, this small church is a significant example of frontier mission architecture. Its simple design blends Gothic Revival style elements, including stained glass windows and well-crafted woodwork, with an Arts and Crafts aesthetic. Other features include exposed roof trusses made of heavy timbers and transept-like side wings, which serve as a vestry, organ alcove, meeting and choir rooms. St. Paul's, which took the place of an earlier log building, is also a symbol of the long-standing presence of Anglican missions in Canada's North beginning here in the 1860s, ministering to Aboriginal peoples and later to miners and settlers.

Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, November 1989, February 1990.

Character Defining Elements

The key elements that contribute to the heritage character of this site include:

- its location in the administrative zone of Dawson;

- the rectangular massing under a steep gabled roof with truncated transepts, polygonal apse, and tower with pyramidal, bell-cast roof;

- the pointed arch entry through the tower;

- exterior detailing, including regularly placed Gothic arched windows, round-arched openings in the tower with blind arcade below, pointed arch plaque over the main entry, rose windows in the transepts, and Venetian window in the apse;

- the functional plan, comprising nave, chancel, sacristy and two-storey pseudo-transepts used as organ alcove, meeting/choir room and vestry;

- interior finishes and detailing including well-crafted woodwork evident in the exposed roof structure (composed of king-post roof trusses constructed of heavy timbers, purlins, v-joint diagonal boarding, chamfered truss beams, and decoratively-shaped corbels), wide mouldings around the windows, doors and the chancel arch, panelled double entry doors, and dado in the vestibule, plasterwork and stained glass;

- viewscapes of the surrounding Dawson Historical District cityscape, as well as views of the Yukon River and its surrounding landscape.

Historical Sources Location

Dawson City Directories for 1903, 1905/06, 1915/16.

Territorial Tax records and assessment records.

Dawson City Museum research files - St. Paul's Anglican Church

CIHB inventory.

Dawson City Photo Finding Aid: 984R.32.1.177; 984R.240.21; 984R.208.18; 984R.178.1

Renovation Information

Permit issued Feb. 1980 to complete fire separation around furnace room so that building could be used as a daycare facility, permit never finalized.

Permit issued July 1982, to install a satelite dish and construct a fence. Finalized in Nov. 1983.

Permit issued in July 1982 to replace skirting around the building. Finalized in May 1985.

Permit issued in June 1986 to complete foundation repairs and an exterior retrofit to the building. Permit never finalized.

Permit issued in March 1987 for an exterior retrofit of the building. Permit finalized in July 1988.

Permit issued in March 1989 to replace church foundation. Permit finalized in June 1990.

Permit issued in July 1995 to construct new stairs, ramps and landings to the church and chapel. No final date.

Permit issued to complete interior renovations and replace water damaged exterior finishes. No final date.

Permit issued in April 1997 to construct new stairs, ramps, landings and walkways. No final date.

Construction Style

Storey and a half frame structure with drop cove siding, metal gable roof on west, south, and north walls. Steeple with pyramidal shingled roof. Two semi elliptical window openings on each wall beneath steeple roof. Decorative trim below windows on steeple, around doorway, and on each side of the steeple. Two small triangular dormers situated on the north and south sides of the roof. Circular windows in the gable ends on the north and south walls. All windows in the first floor are semi elliptical. Windows of church area are of stained glass. Hexagonal tower with pyramidal roof on the south east corner of building. Entrance way with shed roof overhang on north east corner. Triangular arched trim over double door entrance on west wall with large closed rail stairway.

Cultural History

From 1896, early church services had been held in Dawson City. In 1896, Rev. Flewelling built a 16' X 20' log cabin at the mouth of the Klondike where he held services and taught school. In 1897, Rev. RJ. Bowen moved to Dawson and built a log church for 250 dollars. The first service in the log church was Oct. 24, 1897.

Rev. HA Naylor succeeded Rev. Bowen in June 1899. Rev. Naylor tramped the creeks in the summer of 1899 collecting money for the erection of the first Anglican Church in Dawson. First service recorded in the parish register was a burial conducted by Rev. Bowen on June 16, 1897. The first baptism was June 17, 1897, and the first marriage was Aug. 16, 1897.

St. Paul’s Anglican Church, erected in 1902 and built in the Gothic Revival style on the corner of Front and Church streets, replaced the earlier log structure. In March 1902, parishioners undertook to put up a new building. A committee was appointed and by June 1, the ground was broken. The contractor was AJ Prudhomme. The cost of construction was $9,000.00, and the church had seating capacity of 250. The first service was Aug. 9th, the coronation day of King Edward VII.

From 1905, Dawson City was the headquarters of the Yukon’s Anglican Bishop, Isaac Stringer, and the church became the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Yukon.

Documentation Location

National Historic Sites Directorate, Documentation Centre, 5th Floor, Room 89, 25 Eddy Street, Gatineau, Quebec