Red Doors?

[Pollaco]

My apologies if this topic has been posted earlier and elsewhere on this forum. While thumbing through a book dealing the history of a Texas County I came upon this sentence. "...new settlers in Goliad painted the door to the Episcopal church red, a color that signaled a safe refuge for slaves".Where places of sanctuary signified by red doors? Or was this unique to the Episcopal church only?

 

[Pollaco]

Texas had it's version of the Underground Railroad too. Only here the runaway slaves were headed to Mexico and were not northward bound.

 

[Fairfield]

The Underground Railroad had signals that were right out in the open but which were decipherable only to those who knew (the Conductors).

Quilt codes: quilts were hung outside, usually from the windows--sometimes only as an indication of a safe refuge but also with coded messages: the traditional log cabin, for example, indicated that it was imperative to seek shelter immediately (and that the house occupants could be trusted).

Indications of refuges: a candle in the window, lawn jockeys (believe it or not)--even the clothing was coded.

 

[lupaglupa]

I'm a cradle Episcopalian and I've never heard that one. Anglican and Episcopal churches around world have red doors, even in places without slavery. According to church sources there is no one explanation for the use of red paint on church doors. Red was a traditional mark for sanctuary though and some churches had red marks or red doors to signify that sanctuary began with the walls. That could be where the use of red doors in Texes came from or why people believe the doors were red for that reason.

 

[Fairfield]

He may be right. https://www.mcall.com/business/real-estate/mc-remax-why-are-red-doors-popular-story.html. Unless the case is #2 and the mortgage has just been paid.

 

[lupaglupa]

He may be right. https://www.mcall.com/business/real-estate/mc-remax-why-are-red-doors-popular-story.html. Unless the case is #2 and the mortgage has just been paid.

Frankly, it's easier for me to believe the mortgage story. The Episcopal Church didn't split during the War, but that certainly wasn't because the church was unified in supporting abolition. Most of the church in the South was pro-slavery and I'd imagine there were few if any that would have provided escaped slaves with sanctuary.

 

[Fairfield]

Frankly, it's easier for me to believe the mortgage story. The Episcopal Church didn't split during the War, but that certainly wasn't because the church was unified in supporting abolition. Most of the church in the South was pro-slavery and I'd imagine there were few if any that would have provided escaped slaves with sanctuary.

I guess that it could be confusing: according to something I found, churches often painted their doors red to signify the protection of God and assuring that the Angel of Death would pass by. But that same source states that red doors on houses in the North often were signs of the Underground railroad.

I know that churches in Maine were often to be found as part of the Underground railroad. One of the oldest public buildings in a nearby town (and once the chapel to Colby College) was a UGR stop; but I can't remember the color of the door.

 

[Lampasas Bill]

In medieval Europe, red doors on a place of worship did indicate a place of sanctuary where civil law could not be enforced, but the practice of churches offering sanctuary was long gone by the 1860's. The painting of church doors red continued, but with different symbolic meanings: the blood of Christ; the flames of Pentecost; the blood on the door lintels during the first Passover. Since most denominations in the South upheld the institution of slavery, and red doors on Episcopal churches were not uncommon, the story of red doors advertising slave "sanctuary" in Goliad, Texas, seems improbably. In modern times some churches have offered "sanctuary" to draft resisters and illegal aliens, but there is nothing to keep the suspects from being arrested by the authorities but the possibility of negative publicity.

 

[Pollaco]

I'm a cradle Episcopalian and I've never heard that one. Anglican and Episcopal churches around world have red doors, even in places without slavery. According to church sources there is no one explanation for the use of red paint on church doors. Red was a traditional mark for sanctuary though and some churches had red marks or red doors to signify that sanctuary began with the walls. That could be where the use of red doors in Texes came from or why people believe the doors were red for that reason.

I wasn't aware that little town (Goliad) even had an Episcopal church.

 

[Pollaco]

Our Baptist church has maroon doors, would that qualify?It's kind of reddish.

 

[Fairfield]

Our Baptist church has maroon doors, would that qualify?It's kind of reddish.

Sure! In fact the church I mentioned (#7) is a Baptist church.