Saint Paul's owes its birth to one woman - Elizabeth Pawling Ross - who in the 1840s was the only Episcopalian in Doylestown and who rode by horseback to Germantown once each month to receive Holy Communion. Perhaps at her encouragement, the Reverend George P. Hopkins journeyed to Doylestown from Philadelphia to see if he could stir any interest in founding a congregation here. The first service was held at Beneficial Hall (now the Masonic Hall) on State Street on May 18, 1845. For two years Mr. Hopkins "commuted" by stagecoach from Philadelphia to conduct a weekly service. In April, 1846, the parish was formally organized and shorlty thereafter land purchased and money raised to build a church building. The first services in the church were held on April 23, 1848.