You are here

Eastern Pennsylvania » The Piedmont » Berks County » Douglassville » St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church

St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church

-A A +A
1801. South side of U.S. 422 E, 0.2 miles west of PA 622
  • (HABS)
  • (HABS)
  • Adjacent church (© George E. Thomas)

St. Gabriel's began as a Swedish log church in the 1730s. Like other Swedish national churches, it joined with the Episcopalians when the Swedes no longer sent missionaries. In 1801 its congregation constructed a stone meetinghouse derived from the regional dissenting churches, with its principal door in the center of the long side facing a pulpit on the opposite wall. It is remarkable on the exterior for its decorative herringbone stonework on the two sides toward the road as well as for the largely complete though restored interior. Later the balcony was filled in to create a second story, and the old church was adapted as town library and Sunday school. The alterations were undone in a restoration between 1960 and 1975 supervised by G. Edwin Brumbaugh.

The adjacent church was designed in 1880 by a “Mr. Fink,” presumably Andrew Fink Jr., Levi Focht's partner. Its front bell-cote and rear rectangular apse show the continuing influence of St. James the Less Episcopal Church in Philadelphia ( PH136).

Writing Credits

Author: 
George E. Thomas
×

Data

What's Nearby

“Pottsgrove,” John Potts House
Spruce Street Houses
St. Michael's Episcopal Church
Edward Brooke House
Hill School

Citation

George E. Thomas, "St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church", [Douglassville, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-02-BE1.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,