Tonopah’s St. Mark’s P.E. Church Marks 120 Years of Worship

St. Mark’s P.E. Church has outlasted the boom-and-bust rhythms that shaped Tonopah, and the stone building at 210 University Street is still doing the work it was built to do. Its cornerstone was placed on April 18, 1906, and 120 years later the church remains a continuous place of worship rather than a closed relic from the mining era.

The church was built from 1906 to 1907 in the Gothic Revival style, designed by G. B. Lyons and constructed by local stonemason E. E. Burdick. Its rock-faced granite ashlar walls, steeply pitched gable roof, lancet windows and pointed-arch entry porch give the building a hard, durable presence that fits a town built on minerals, labor and reinvention. The structure has been part of Tonopah’s religious life from the start, and Tonopah Community Church still holds services inside.

That continued use is part of what sets St. Mark’s apart. The building houses one of the oldest still-functioning pipe organs in Nevada, adding musical and cultural significance to its religious role. In a community where many mining-era landmarks have disappeared or been repurposed beyond recognition, the church has remained tied to worship and public memory at the same address for more than a century.

Preservation recognition followed. St. Mark’s was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 20, 1982, and architectural references describe it as one of the best-constructed stone buildings in Tonopah. The adjacent E. E. Burdick House, later used as a rectory, is also on the National Register, extending the church’s historical footprint beyond the sanctuary walls.

That legacy will be made more visible during a Memorial Day weekend open house, when a historical marker is set to be unveiled. For Tonopah, the milestone is about more than age. It is a reminder that St. Mark’s survived because it never stopped serving the town, carrying Tonopah’s church life, craftsmanship and continuity through 120 years of change.