The parish is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia and traces its roots to the initial arrival of Anglican worshippers at Fort Vancouver in the Oregon Country in the 1830s; its first dedicated church building was consecrated in 1860.
Fort Vancouver was established as the main center for trading by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and was located north of the Columbia River.
[2] John McLoughlin, factor of Fort Vancouver, and a Catholic, asked HBC for a full-time minister.
[2] In 1849, after the Treaty of Oregon established Fort Vancouver as being in United States territories, U.S. troops arrived.
The church was stated to be "one of the landmarks of the city and one of the first objects to greet the gaze of the approaching visitor as he comes across the river.
[1] In the early 1890s St. Luke's also promoted and participated, through its rector Reverend Mardon D. Wilson (who was also the Secretary of the Missionary Jurisdiction of Washington Territory), in the creation of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia in 1910.
[1] On Sunday, December 6, 1931, only one-half hour after the close of the morning service, the Rector, Dr. Coleman Byram, his wife, and James O'Banion were having a meal in the rectory.
Later helped by others from the neighborhood as well as the firemen, they were able to save the vestments, brass works, some hymnals, and the symbolic bishop's chair.
While music had been a popular part of services at St. Luke's from the beginning, it moved to a new level with the arrival of Stella Baird in 1925.
A skilled musician and educator, Mrs. Baird became the organist and choir director in 1925, and held those roles for the next twenty-eight years.
These were popular in the community, with Vancouver Barracks officers and families joining in, among them General George Marshall.
On November 9, the Show was opened by Mayor Vern Anderson, who used the historical Hudson's Bay Company key, all bedecked with ribbons for the occasion.
The Antique Show became an institution in Vancouver, carried on for many years, and raising money for a camp at Spirit Lake, Mt.
The steeple, which was over 119 feet tall, was one of the most prominent features of the city, viewable by those arriving from the Columbia River.
Eight windows were added in the early 1940s to the third church building, and later moved into what is now a side chapel of the main Sanctuary.
They depict the Life of Jesus Christ, utilizing a detailed style of painting on glass, and contain many religious symbols pertinent to their particular window.
The main Sanctuary has a large stained glass window depicting St. Luke, which was created by Gabriel Loire and installed in 1967.
It is a special and rare instrument because of its long history, and because it utilizes mechanical ("tracker") action to control the pipes.
This sort of action is the most sensitive and most reliable way to build an organ [1] The church also has a Sohmer & Co. grand piano that was built in 1924 and purchased in 1989 as a memorial to Dr. James O'Banion.
[1] The Mason and Hamlin Melodeon (reed organ) was probably built in 1868, and was played in St. Luke's first building by Kate Fauble Hardin.
Dutch bells have a richer, more complex tone color than American handbells common in this country – more like a tower carillon.