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Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Union Church, Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County

Again, I really want to say how much I appreciate all the support I've received for the podcast. I haven't gotten a ton of feedback, but every single scrap I've been given has been very positive. Some of it even came from people I don't know personally! If you haven't checked it out already, please investigate this page for all the details. I posted a new episode yesterday featuring a surprise cameo by one of my cats; he's taking his newfound fame in stride.

We're coming down to the wire for Zenkaikon, at which I'll be doing three history-related presentations - two about Lancaster, where the con takes place, and one about Celtic mythology and its relationship with modern media. It's crunch time and the panic is starting to set in, because my to-do list for the two weeks remaining is out of control. I think I picked a bad year to give up soda for Lent, because I desperately need some caffeine!

Well, in the interest of getting at least one thing checked off of that list, let's have a blog post, shall we? This week I'm taking you back to beautiful Cumberland County to learn about the oldest public building in Mechanicsburg, and the many ways it has served the community for nearly two hundred years. Please note that the images in this post turned out inexplicably large, so I had to shrink them in order to make the page readable; just click on them if you'd like to see bigger versions.

I do want to reiterate that this post is about the oldest public building in Mechanicsburg, which is not the oldest building overall. That honor belongs to the Frankenberger Tavern, a marvelous wooden structure which caught the attention of both myself and Kevin when we were exploring the community. It was built in 1801, and as you might imagine, it was a privately-owned business. Today it's no longer a tavern, but a historical treasure of the borough. Its interior can still be seen today, from May to October, but only on Saturdays between the hours of noon and 3 p.m. - we got there a little too late. It's not only the oldest building in Mechanicsburg, it's also one of the oldest surviving buildings in all of Pennsylvania.

The marker sits in front of the church at
51 East Main Street

The Union Church, as the structure is known, was built in 1825 by Martin Rupp. In addition to building the church itself, he sold the land on which it sits to the community - just half an acre - for $90. From the outside, it looks almost like a small school, with red brickwork and doors and windows trimmed in crisp white paint, and a small cupola housing a bell. The interior, meanwhile, doesn't seem to have changed very much in the years since; I didn't actually get to see the inside during my photo-taking visit, but the 'Homes and churches' link in my sources section includes a picture of the worship space. It features white-painted pews facing an equally white altar, and an old coal stove once provided heat.

My own first question was, who exactly was Martin Rupp? Well, I didn't find a whole lot of answer to that, but (assuming that I found the correct Martin Rupp) he was born on September 15, 1769 and was one of five children of Johannes Jonas and Anna Maria Elizabeth (Borst) Rupp. He married Anna Snavely and they had several children of their own, three daughters and five sons. He was a farmer, but also described as "a mathematician, an accurate geographer, [and] a well-read historian". He was a member of the German Reformed congregation of Peace, according to his tombstone; it was established in the 1790s in Mechanicsburg, and the original building still stands, though its use was discontinued in 1865 when a new church was built. Martin died on July 18, 1843, and is interred in Mechanicsburg's Saint John's Cemetery. It seems as though the Union Church's existence is his chief claim to fame.

The Union Church was created to provide worship space for congregations which didn't have their own churches. This was actually the case for the German Reformed people themselves, as for many years they alternated Sundays with a Lutheran congregation in order to have a place to go. I imagine that was at least part of the inspiration for this being stipulated in the Union Church's charter. New congregations which moved into or were established in Mechanicsburg could use the Union Church for worship, regardless of their denomination, until they were able to establish a church of their own. Prior to 1825, they had to rely on traveling preachers who would lead services in private residences.

In 1835, the state passed a law requiring that all children must receive elementary education. To accommodate this, the community built the Union School, a small two-story schoolhouse just behind Union Church. This has long since been demolished. Replacing it is a sort of stone yard housing the relics you see here - a bell from Irving College, and a fountain which was erected in 1907 by the local Women's Club in honor of Mechanicsburg's one hundredth birthday. It stood in front of the borough's original town hall until it was torn down in 1926.

In 1860, a growing need for local fire personnel prompted the construction of Washington Hall, which occupies the other half of the land given by Martin Rupp. The Washington Fire Company has operated out of the building ever since. It was originally three stories tall, but in 1907 the third story was removed and replaced with a sort of belfry. The original front of the building was modified in 1958, allowing for a door that would permit the use of modern firefighting equipment. It has additionally been used over the decades as a public meeting house and a dance hall. Behind the firehouse is the lovingly crafted tombstone of Spot, who had been the fire company's loyal and beloved mascot for ten years before his death in 1896.

The Union Church today is maintained by a dedicated group of trustees. It can be rented for weddings and other private events by contacting Buhrig's Funeral Home at 717-766-3421. If you'd like to explore it for yourself, visit Mechanicsburg on Jubilee Day - it's open to the public as part of the festivities.


Sources and Further Reading:






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Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
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