

Clayton kindly permitted the Old Chester website (to reprint his poignant, funny history of Dr. It was the easiest room to clean up so far. This church features a lovely Ladies’ Parlor, with fireplace, deep windowsills for floral displays, and a wall of glassed-in bookcases. The Abolitionist Movement, the Ladies’ Temperance Movement, and Women’s Suffrage (the vote/political participation) all were part of the cultural and educational mission to perfect humankind. These meetings were not confined to religious matters. The Presbyterian Church grew from church meetings held in the parlors of homes, conducted by the lady of the house. The classrooms fanning out from the Rotunda, well-lighted and ventilated by banks of windows, allowed for a single rector to efficiently supervise all teachers without disturbing classes, and make public announcements from the Rotunda.
Iconie chester pa windows#
When the great wall of sliding glass windows between were hoisted up like a garage door, the two big circular spaces of the Sanctuary and Rotunda could be merged into one giant space. Natural lighting was provided in the rotunda by a great eye-window overhead, a glassed-in version of the Roman Pantheon. Originally conceived to handle crowds at Chatauquas and exhibitions like the Chicago World’s Fair, The “Akron Plan” was devised in Akron, Ohio by farm-equipment inventor Henry Lewis. The floor plan is American through and through. Chester’s Italian Presbyterians then formed their own church on Third and Fulton they re-merged with Third Presbyterian in 1965, a half-century later. Some old-world craftsmanship remains: note the individual dressing marks on the ashlar stone of the exterior walls and window sills. On a separate outer wooden frame were hung terracotta tiles manufactured by the Celadon Tile Company of Alfred, NY, hauled over 300 miles of railroad.

But instead of a dome, painstakingly stacked brick by mortared brick, this cathedral was framed in like a ship, with great iron turnbuckles within. Pursell evoked a more “modern” theme: the red-brick egg-shaped dome and low surrounding walls of Brunellesci’s cathedral in Florence. To copy of the silhouette of, say, the Pantheon of Rome became all the rage for American architects to appeal to their newly-educated clients. New fortunes also financed tours to the Wonders of the Ancient World the masses sated their curiosity for same via magic lantern or stereoscope. There is some evidence of idea-swapping among Chandler and Pursell: the beautiful eight-sided, hammer-beamed roof vault of Chandler’s 1894 Bethlehem Presbyterian Church, on Broad Street near Temple University shows up in Pursell’s 1897 work, which you see here above you. What you see today is Isaac Pursell’s work.

Architects Frank Furness, as well as his protégés Theophilus Chandler and Isaac Pursell raised the most memorable buildings. It was via this system – along with fortunes amassed – that the architectural treasures were built here in the Delaware Valley. The US Civil War gave birth to a mighty logistics chain to deliver goods of all sorts – developed, tested, and perfected by the Union Army. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION – WHAT CHESTER MAKES… So soon after the Panic of 1893 (many times worse than the Great Depression), which spawned the worst railroad strikes ever to hit Pennsylvania, and still, by some miracle, this mountain was raised in less than a year! The Old Chester website (tells us that the cornerstone for this church was laid on Jand opening services were held on May 17, 1896. About the Building by the Chester Historical Preservation Committee – Shelley Ashfield The Church laid abandoned for 3 years before the CHPC took ownership of it. This wonderful old church from the 19th Century is in trouble with Father Time.

This beautiful, iconic building will be the new home of CHPC and a center for the performing arts. The cleaning and restoration of the Old Third Presbyterian Church is an ongoing project for the Chester Historical Preservation Committee.
