The history of Christ Church goes back to the year 1764, when the Bishop of London licensed the Rev. William Dawson to bring the Anglican Church to Pensacola. He was followed by two additional priests who came from England for missionary work until 1781, when the area once again came under Spanish control. When Florida became a Territory of the United States in 1821, and religious freedom was granted, the General Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church sent the Rev. Ralph Williston to Pensacola, and Christ Church was founded in 1827, chartered by the Territorial Legislature in 1829, and a church building built at Seville Square in 1832. That building still stands as the oldest church building in Florida.