In the late 1850s, Episcopal families around Mt. Meigs began building plans for a church and hired Pennsylvania architect Joseph W. Pierson to prepare them. Those plans were submitted in April 1861, but hardships caused by the Civil War and its aftermath delayed construction for more than 30 years. When Grace Church was finally built in 1893, it followed Pierson's original plans in the Gothic Revival style that was popular for rural Episcopal churches across the South during the 1850s. The auxiliary buildings and church gardens were constructed much more recently to reflect the style of the original sanctuary.