Brown Bag Lunch

“Robert Schuyler and the 19th-Century Carpenter Gothic churches of Florida”

In this Brown Bag Lunch, author Jonathan Rich shares the remarkable story behind his award-winning book Spires in the Sun: The Carpenter Gothic Episcopal Churches of Florida, recipient of the Florida Historical Society’s 2024 Charlton Tebeau Award for the most outstanding work in Florida history. Rich presents an illustrated talk on Florida’s distinctive Carpenter Gothic churches and the people who built them, weaving together stories of architecture, faith, and community.

His lecture highlights Fernandina architect Robert Schuyler, designer of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and other historic landmarks, and explores how Bishop John Freeman Young’s vision shaped Florida’s Gothic Revival legacy.