The Rocky Spring Presbyterian Church is an historic, American Presbyterian church that is located in Letterkenny Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States.
Rocky Spring Presbyterian Church | |
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| Location | Rocky Spring Road, approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km) northwest of Funk Road, Letterkenny Township, Pennsylvania |
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| Coordinates | 39°59′19″N 77°40′35″W / 39.98861°N 77.67639°W |
| Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Built | 1794 |
| Architect | Beatty, Walter |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| NRHP reference No. | 94000430[1] |
| Added to NRHP | May 13, 1994 |
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.[1]
History and architectural features
editBuilt in 1794, this historic structure is a 1+1⁄2-story, four by six-bay, brick, Georgian-style building that measures forty-eight feet by sixty feet, and has a gable roof. The interior of the church includes two ten-plate stoves, brick aisleways, a crude ladder leading to a loft, and wooden pews that are long and narrow with high straight-backed seating. The ends of the pews are carved with the names of the previous occupants identifying the military ranks they held during the Revolutionary War.
Rocky Springs Church was a pay for pew church that required members to sign a financial agreement between the trustees of the church and the pew holders requiring an annual fee for occupancy of the pew.[2]
The Church's pulpit is circular in form and positioned above the pews giving the speaker full view of the congregation. Access is gained by a staircase. Above the pulpit is an oval-shaped canopy or sounding board.
Five acres of land to build the church were acquired by warrant on November 6, 1792. Trustees of the congregation[3] who acquired the land upon which to build the church included: George Matthews, Esq., James McCalmont, Esq., James Ferguson, Esq., James Culbertson, Esq., and Samuel Culbertson. The property includes the church cemetery; the oldest gravestone dates to the 1780s.[4]
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.[1]
Each year, the church is opened for an annual Presbyterian service giving the people in attendance an opportunity to experience the austere beauty of the church.[5]
Gallery
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Drawing made in 1894 for the centennial -
Rocky Spring Church, 2013 -
Pews carved with the name of the pew holder -
Straight-backed, carved, pews and crude ladder to loft -
Church cemetery
References
edit- ^ a b c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ Engle, William Henry (1970). Notes and Queries: Historical, Biographical and Genealogical: Relating Chiefly to Interior PA. Genealogical Publishing Company. pp. 98, 103.
- ^ Wylie, Rev SS (August 23, 1894). History of Rocky Springs Church. Chambersburg, PA: Franklin Repository Press. p. 27.
- ^ Oldest dated gravestone is John Burns' and is dated 1760. "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania". CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Archived from the original (Searchable database) on 2007-07-21. Retrieved 2012-02-01. Note: This includes Paula S. Reed (May 1993). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Rocky Spring Presbyterian Church" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-02-01.
- ^ Brechbill, Bonnie H. "Annual Service Gives Public a Chance to Worship at Old PA Church". Herald Mail Home. Retrieved 7 May 2014.