Its 1834 Greek Revival building, designed by architect Thomas Ustick Walter and located at 1501-15 Chestnut Street, was demolished in 1902.

In 1833, Dr. Caspar Morris, Alexander W. Johnston, Robert Coldcleugh, and Lewis R. Ashhurst proposed a new congregation for the growing neighborhood around Broad and Chestnut Streets.

The cornerstone was laid on March 24, 1834, by Bishop William White with the first service held in the basement of the Church the following August.

He was an outspoken critic of the Roman Catholic Church, yet he was a fierce opponent of the Philadelphia Nativist Riots (1844).

Under his leadership the debt of the church was liquidated, the building was enlarged and the interior renovated to be more in keeping with contemporary Episcopal practice.

In response, the Vestry approved a resolution stating it was inappropriate to "select the Lord's day and the pulpit of this Church as the time and place for the discussion of any question of sectional politics."

[3] Determined to avoid a repeat of the unpleasant experience of Tyng's rectorship, a southerner and friend of the late Rev.

Francis Wells, Church of the Epiphany's historian, noted "[Cracraft] occupied the Rectorship for a little more than 3 years ... it was the period of the Parish's greatest depression both spiritually and materially, and was terminated by [his resignation on] March 2, 1862.

His greatest interest lay in the Sunday schools where he preached a series of sermons that were published in several languages and distributed worldwide.

In 1895, prominent Philadelphia merchant, John Wanamaker approached The Church of The Epiphany to purchase its property.

Bishop Ozi W. Whitaker suggested the merger with St. Luke's Church, Philadelphia, which occurred on April 6, 1898.

[8] The Church of The Epiphany was designed by noted Philadelphia architect Thomas Ustick Walter in the Greek Revival style.

The interior, similar to many Protestant churches at the time, was plainly decorated, with white painted walls and clear glass.

Half of it was occupied by the organ gallery, which was supported on pillars, the chancel running in under it and entered by a door at the rear, which communicated by a flight of stairs with the vestry room in the basement.

A small oaken communion table, covered with crimson velvet, was placed in front of the pulpit.

A large central oil chandelier lighted the church and smaller ones also hanging from the ceiling until 1841, when gas was introduced.

The original communion table was replaced by a slightly larger one; painted carved and covered with a marble slab.

In 1881, an organ chamber was constructed by utilizing the rooms on the northeast corner of the building, formerly used by the Rector, Sexton, and Sunday school library.

In the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the rector is the priest elected to head a self-supporting parish.

The Epiphany Chapel began in 1859 as the Mission Sunday School of the Seventh Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, and was located at 23rd and Race Streets.

Soon after the acquisition, discussions began about constructing a new facility on the site capable of housing both a school and chapel.

[12] Instead, a site was selected at northwest corner of 23rd and Cherry Streets and construction started in 1865 on a two-story brick building.