Key Number:	HS 36944
Site Name:	St. Laurence Anglican Church
Other Names:
Site Type:	1603 - Religious: Church, Cathedral or Chapel

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			35	4	4

Address:	N/A
Number:	N/A
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Avenue:	N/A
Other:
Town:	Monitor
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
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Storeys:
Foundation:
Superstructure:
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	High Gable
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:
Exterior:	N/A
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	N/A
Condition:	N/A
Alterations:	N/A

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Constructed
Usage:	Usage Date:
Church
Owner:	Owner Date:
Monitor Historic Society

Architect:	N/A
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Craftsman:	N/A
History:	RESOURCE: St. Laurence Anglican Church ADDRESS: Monitor BUILT:  1915 DESIGNATION STATUS: Registered Historic Resource HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE   The village of Monitor sits on the Red Deer Branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway, forty kilometers from the Saskatchewan border.   A railway section point, Monitor prospered after the turn of the century as the country east of Red Deer benefited from increased immigration and agrarian settlement.   In 1915 the English speaking residents of the town and surrounding area determined to erect a church building to house the Episcopalians who had been meeting in various accommodations for some years.   Seven hundred came from the “Old Country Friends” in England while $470.00 were raised from the local congregation.   The only tie on the overseas money was that the church be named after a sister church in the English countryside, explaining the use of the district spelling for “Laurence”.   The church prospered in its new building, but only as long as the agricultural boom lasted.   When the post war recession spelled an end to agricultural prosperity in eastern Alberta and led to the depopulation of the area, churches, schools and other local institutions became redundant.   Like many sister churches, St. Laurence Anglican, which had served Methodist and Lutheran congregations as well, lost much of its congregation and the ability to sustain a full time minister.   For fifty years St. Laurence church was part of a Anglican circuit, switching between Saskatchewan and Alberta oriented diocese.   The end came in 1972 when the parish was phased out completely, and like the McDougall church it became the scene of an annual commemorative service.   St. Laurence Anglican is an interesting, if typical example of similar Anglican churches throughout rural Alberta, and is a reminder of the first rather heady days of agricultural and settlement during the century’s first twenty years.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:

Register:	N/A

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places: