415 College Avenue
In 1926-28, Mr. and Mrs. T. L. Malone built this church in memory of their son, Gratz Moses Malone, who died at the tender age of nine years. Daphne’s master potter, Peter McAdam, was a dear friend of the boy and began crafting a beautiful altar of clay for the church. Before the work was finished, Peter McAdam’s own son, eighteen-year-old Pete, died tragically in a diving accident at the May Day pier. The church records show that young Pete was one of the first to be baptized, one of the first to be confirmed and the first to be buried at this small church. When the elegant altar was finished, fashioned from such grief, it was dedicated to the memory of the potter’s son. In 1976 when this congregation built a new church on Main Street and tried to move the clay altar, it shattered into many pieces. In the 1920’s the Women’s Auxiliary of Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church held annual Spring Azalea Tour and Tea Benefits when flowers were at their finest. Refreshments on the lawn followed elegant walking tours of the magnificent antebellum bay front estates of the Leas, Yuilles, and Shonts.
The grounds of these estates were described with sculptured hedges, fountains, profusions of azaleas, wisteria, camellias, and large oaks draped with graceful silvery moss. As word of these delightful affairs spread, visitors came from all over the South. This event was the forerunner of the annual Azalea Trail Tour that began in Mobile in 1930.
