In 1858, a group of parishioners from St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Salem established Grace Church, which would be constructed at 385 Essex Street later that year. The parishioners wanted to found a second Episcopal Church in Salem that would be closer to their homes in the western part of the city. By 1924, the original wooden Gothic building of Grace Church was deemed no longer adequate. It was structurally unsound–one could stand against the wall and shake the whole building. In 1926, a new church was built on the same site. Initial plans for a Georgian Revival structure were eventually changed and the completed church was designed by architect Philip Horton Smith in the Gothic Revival style. Three years later, the church was connected to an adjacent Federal-style residence, Burrell House, which is used as a parish house.