This was one of the projects mentioned in Hook’s announcement in the Manufacturers’ Record (Oct. 24, 1891); he stated that he had prepared plans for an Episcopal church in Blowing Rock. Whether that church was built is unknown. The congregation of present St. Mary’s of the Hills Episcopal Church was founded in 1890; the present church was built in 1918-1921 from designs by New York architect Delaney Robinson. The community is the setting for Jan Karon’s popular “Mitford” novels featuring an Episcopal priest and his parishioners.