St. Luke's Episcopal Church, in the 100 block of Washington Avenue, was founded in 1832 by Dr. Phineas Jenks, James Worth, and William Paff. An effort to build an Episcopal church in Newtown had been made as early as 1766, but it was instead started in Bristol. Church histories indicate that the brick church was constructed in 1832, and a frame bell tower was erected in 1835 before being replaced in 1904 by the present brick tower. The parish house on the left was built in 1893 and demolished in 1953, when St. Luke's House replaced it at the corner of Washington Avenue and Court Street. A framed sexton's house at the back of the church was built in 1835 and replaced in 1929 by the present brick sacristy. The sanctuary's present focal point is the 15th-century altarpiece The Coronation of the Virgin, one of only two in the United States, cast from the original in Siena, Italy, by the Florentine master Andrea di Marco de Simone della Robbia. This reredos was given for the church's centennial celebration in 1932 by Ada B. Reeder in memory of her husband, Horace G. Reeder. In 1995, the church was renovated to replace the flooring and pews while retaining its style and feel throughout.
