Holy Comforter Episcopal Church & St. Athanasius Episcopal Church

Holy Comforter Episcopal Church and St. Athanasius Episcopal Church are part of a historic Episcopal church complex that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. St. Athanasius was built in 1880 and Holy Comforter Episcopal Church was erected in 1911. The complex also includes a parish house constructed in 1887 and a cemetery. Both churches are closely associated with the city's early history when it was a growing industrial center. St. Athanasius was designed in the Carpenter Gothic style and Holy Comforter Episcopal Church is a fine example of Gothic Revival architecture.

Burlington was founded in 1851 by the North Carolina Railroad (NCR), which named the new town Company Shops (the name was changed to Burlington in 1887). The NCR built numerous railroad shop buildings and housing for employees in the 1850s. In 1869, the company built a multi-denominational church called Union Church to provide a place of worship for the town's residents.

The first Episcopal services occurred in 1876. In the Spring of 1877, the Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina sent a minister named Rev. William Shipp Bynum to Company Shops to establish a mission. In the coming years, the Episcopal community grew; by 1879 the congregation had 33 members. This growth prompted the congregation to build St. Athanasius in 1880. New members continued to join the congregation in the 1880s and, as noted above, the parish house was built in 1887 (it later operated as a school). In 1889, the congregation bought a nearby house that became the parish rectory. All of these developments coincided with the town's growth and increasing prosperity during the late 1800s.

By 1908 it was apparent to the congregation that a larger church was needed. Construction of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church began in 1909 and was completed in 1911. Built of granite ashlar rock, it features Gothic windows with tracery, a bell tower with corner pinnacles, and buttresses. For the next thirty years, services for deaf congregants were held in St. Athanasius Church. Today it appears to be used for various parish gatherings.

Southern, Michael et al. "St. Athanasius Episcopal Church and Parish House and the Church of the Holy Comforter." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. May 29, 1979. https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/AM0005.pdf.