St. Peter's Kierch, also called the Old Kierch or St. Peter's Church, is a historic

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

church in Middletown,

Dauphin County Dauphin County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Daffin Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 286,401. The county seat is Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's state capital and ninth-most populous city. ...

in the U.S. state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Construction began in 1767 and it was dedicated by

Henry Muhlenberg Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (born Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg; September 6, 1711 – October 7, 1787), was a Holy Roman Empire, German-born Lutheran clergyman and missionary. Born in Einbeck, Muhlenberg immigrated to the Province of Pennsylv ...

in 1769. St. Peter's Kierch was used regularly until 1879 when a large church was completed. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1973.

Design

St. Peter's Kierch is a 2½-story, Georgian-style church at the intersection of Union and High Streets in Middletown.Pennsylvania Register of Historic Sites and Landmarks, § 7. The church was constructed from red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. Originally, galleries were located on the east, west and south sides with the wineglass

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

on the north side. The bell tower was constructed 46 years after the rest of the church, on the west side, as it was not intended to be used an entrance. The sides of the church have three windows reaching to the upper story. Each window has forty-four panes of glass—eleven panes high, four across.

History

On September 18, 1764, with the intent of constructing a

church, a plot of land was purchased by some local residents from George Fisher, founder of Middletown, for 7 shillings and 6 pence, along with an annual

rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

of one grain of wheat.Pennsylvania Register of Historic Sites and Landmarks, § 8, p. 1. The cornerstone of the church was laid on July 13, 1767 by

James Burd James Burd (March 10, 1725 – October 5, 1793) was a colonial American soldier in the French and Indian War, during which he played an important role in fortifying the Pennsylvania frontier. Early life Born in Ormiston, near Edinburgh, Scotland, ...

. The church was dedicated by

on September 12, 1769. The

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

was constructed in 1813; the bell was cast in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

by Hedderly and Leverin and hung in 1815. In 1876, the growth on the congregation led to the decision to build a new church several blocks south of the old one, at Spring and Union Streets. The last regular service was held at the Kierch on January 26, 1879. It is still used, however, for "occasional services and funerals" as well as other special events. St. Peter's Kierch was listed on the

on June 17, 1973. The church has an adjacent cemetery, locally called "God's Acre", that has about 210 people buried who fought in the American Revolution.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peters Kierch Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Churches in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Georgian architecture in Pennsylvania Lutheran churches in Pennsylvania Churches completed in 1769 1769 establishments in Pennsylvania 18th-century Lutheran churches in the United States Historic American Buildings Survey in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Design

History

See also

References

Sources

External links