All the Episcopalians in the area organized as St. Barnabas Church on Sept. 24, 1882. Their building, on Clara Avenue, was built on land donated by John and Clara Rich, and its construction was managed by John Banta. The designer, Richard Upjohn, had become America’s foremost ecclesiastical architect, and was co-founder of the American Institute of Architects. The dedication service for the new building, led by Vicar Charles Bielby, was held on Easter Sunday, April 1, 1884.

Over the years since this dedication, church folklore had proclaimed that the sanctuary’s stained-glass windows were made by the famous Tiffany Studios in New York City. This idea was made plausible by the fact that Mrs. Bielby, an accomplished potter, had once painted china there. However, a window restoration done in 2013 revealed that the windows of St. Barnabas had been crafted in a different New York City glass studio.