St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...

occupies a prominent location on the heights above Harpers Ferry. The original church was built in 1833 in a pseudo-

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style which it kept through the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, the only church in Harpers Ferry to escape destruction during the war. The church was extensively altered in 1896 in the then-popular

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style to produce the church seen today. The church commands a sweeping vista across the gorge of the

Shenandoah River The Shenandoah River is the principal tributary of the Potomac River, long with two forks approximately long each,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 in t ...

above its confluence with the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

. The street along the side of the church building is part of the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tr ...

. A short trail leads from the church to

Jefferson Rock Jefferson Rock is a rock formation on the Appalachian Trail in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. It consists of several large masses of Harpers shale, piled one upon the other, that overlook the Shenandoah River just prior to its confluence with the P ...

. St. Peter's Church is a mission church of St. James in Charles Town. A Mass is offered at the historic church Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

History

The 1831 church was dedicated in 1833, to some extent resembling reduced

St. Mary's Seminary Chapel St. Mary's Seminary Chapel, located at 600 Baltimore-Washington Parkway, North Paca Street (off Druid Hill Avenue and modern Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard) in the Seton Hill, Baltimore, Seton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, is the ...

in Baltimore, Maryland as an early Gothic Revival church. The 1896 remodeling by architects Thomas J. Collins and Son was extensive in scope, completely changing the church into a stone-clad Victorian Gothic structure, resembling the architects' St. Francis Roman Catholic Church in

Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...

Description

The rebuilt church is an elaborately detailed Victorian Gothic structure. The exterior is finished in gray stone with red sandstone trim. The tall spire stands at the edge of the cliff overlooking the

. The interior is a single, bright room. Aisles are suggested by suspended vaulting with gilded pendants. The lancet windows are mainly furnished with colored glass rather than figurative representations. The sanctuary is marked by a polygonal apse.

Gallery

Image:Saint Peter's Church Harpers Ferry, Virginia.jpg, A historic photograph of the church File:St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Harpers Ferry, WV - looking east.jpg, Looking east from the Appalachian Trail File:Jefferson Rock, Harpers Ferry, WV - looking east.jpg, View from

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peters Roman Catholic Church, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Buildings and structures in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Roman Catholic churches completed in 1833 Gothic Revival church buildings in West Virginia Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston Tourist attractions in Jefferson County, West Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, West Virginia

History

Description

Gallery

See also

References

External links