CLOSED CHURCHES WITHIN THE PRESE

CLOSED CHURCHES WITHIN THE PRESENT BOUNDARIES OF THE SUSQUEHANNA CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
The information for each church is arranged in alphabetical order within counties. Select a county.

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY PA

X. Special note on Rockefeller and Shamokin townships: In the Methodist Church, these townships were within the Central Pennsylvania Conference; in the EUB Church they were within the Eastern Conference. Following the 1968 Methodist-EUB merger to form the United Methodist Church, the conference reorganization split the townships between the Central Pennsylvania [now Susquehanna] and Eastern Pennsylvania conferences. Later adjustments have placed the entirety of both townships within the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. Its present and former Methodist churches are included in this special X list because of their close and longstanding ties to appointments now within the Susquehanna Conference. Long-closed former Evangelical and United Brethren churches of the area are included to help preserve their histories. The histories of United Brethren churches of the area that were active in 1952 are preserved in Gibble’s 1952 History of the East Pennsylvania Conference of the United Brethren Church.

X01. Ebenezer ME

Location: Hollowing Run Road, Augustaville
Municipality: Rockefeller township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:

Brief History:

    Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 795: “Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1860, and numbered among its membership the families of Gonsar, Tucker, Shipman, Long, and Malick. A small frame church edifice was erected on the Hollowing Run road in the same year; in 1875 it was enlarged, but has been much damaged by a storm arid never repaired.”

Final disposition:
Only the Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Cemetery remains at the site. It appears to be inactive, the last burial being in 1937.

X02. Irish Valley ME

irish

Location: 2026 Irish Valley Road
Municipality: Rockefeller township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:
1887,50 – building and congregation of Freewill Baptists in “Lower Irish Valley” accepted

Brief History:
There was an Irish Valley charge in the Central Pennsylvania Conference for many years. At the time of the 1968 denominational union, there were only two churches remaining, Boyles Run and Irish Valley. In 1970, the conferences were re-aligned as a result of that union and the charge was split – Boyles Run remained in the Central Pennsylvania [now Susquehanna] Conference and Irish Valley was placed in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.
Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County states (page 733): There are two Methodist churches in Irish Valley… one of them was formerly occupied by another denomination and the other was begun in the earl spring of 1869… and dedicated February 20, 1870.”

Final disposition:
As of 2019, an active congregation in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference

X03. Miller’s Cross Roads ME

Location: 1929 Plum Creek Road
Municipality: Shamokin township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:
1974,189 – transfer to Eastern Pennsylvania Conference

Brief History:

Final disposition:
As of 2019, an active UM congregation in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

X04. Pleasant Hill UB
[aka Reeser’s UB]

[no picture]

Location:
Municipality: Shamokin township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
East Pennsylvania Conference of the United Brethren Church

Journal references:

Brief History:

     Beer’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 733-734. “Pleasant Hill United Brethren Church was organized about 1850 in an old school house on the Centre turnpike one mile west of Reed's station.  The present one-story brick church edifice, situated near the site of the school house, was erected during 1872-73, and dedicated on the 4th of May, 1874. The Reeser families were among the first members and have been quite prominent in the church ever since its organization.  The graveyard was opened as a place of burial in 1872.”

     United Brethren services began to be held in area homes about 1850.  Trustees were appointed in 1865.  In 1866 they were instructed to secure title for a church lot, and in 1867 they were instructed to secure money and materials for a church building.  The Reeser’s school house and the Upper Augusta ME church were used for services during these times.  The first building was destroyed by a tornado in 1883, and a new church was erected soon thereafter.  These buildings reportedly stood “just north of the Shamokin Branch of the Northern Central Railroad near Snydertown.”

Final disposition:

X05. Seven Points EV

Location: 1110 Captain Bloom Road
Municipality: Rockefeller township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
East Pennsylvania Conference

Journal references:

Brief History:

      Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 795: “Seven Points Church of the Evangelical Association was organized in 1866, although public worship had been conducted by ministers of this denomination in that vicinity as early as 1855. The church edifice, a one-story frame structure, was dedicated on the 23d of December, 1866.  Rev. David Lantz was largely instrumental in effecting the organization and having the church building erected.”

     This congregation sided with the United Evangelicals in 1894, and stayed out of the 1922 denominational re-union to become part of the Evangelical Congregational Church.

Final disposition:
This building now houses the Seven Points Christian Assembly congregation..

X06. Snydertown ME

snydertownme $Description: Description: Description: X:\image\closed_churchs\northumberland\snydertown.jpg$

Location:
Municipality: Snydertown borough
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:
     1891,64 – several hundred dollars secured toward a new church
     1894,59 – new building dedicatec 4/30/1893
     1974,89 – transferred to Eastern Pennsylvania Conference

Brief History:
Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 733: “Snydertown Methodist Episcopal Church was organized prior to 1859 with J. M. Wolverton as first class leader and Christian Diehl, J. M. Wolverton, Joseph Hoover, John Jones, and Solomon Klase as first trustees. The church edifice, a frame building forty feet long and twenty feet wide, was dedicated on the 4th of December, 1859, by Rev. M. Warren. The following is a list of pastors since the formation of
Snydertown circuit: John F. Craig, 1868; D. M. McCloskey, l869-70; Henry S. Mendenhall, 1871-72; N. W. Colburn, 1873-74; G. H. Day, 1876-78; John Guss, 1879-80; Henry B. Fortner, 1881-83; John A. De Moyer, 1884; John Horning, l885-87; Elial M. Chilcoat, 1888, present incumbent.”

Final disposition:

X07. St. John's EV
[Reitz’s EV]

Location:
Municipality: Little Mahanoy township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
East Pennsylvania Conference of the Evangelical Association

Journal references:

Brief History:
Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 736: “St. John's Church of the Evangelical Association was organized in 1870, through the efforts of Daniel Reitz, Samuel Dunkelberger, Adam Lenker, John Hensel, and Joseph Reitz. They furnished the means, a lot
was purchased, and a frame church edifice twenty by thirty feet was erected at a cost of eleven hundred dollars. The Reverends Benjamin Bohner, B. F. Snyder, and L. N. Worman have served the congregation as pastors.”

Final disposition:
The building was demolished in 1967

1. Augusta ME
[aka Upper Augusta ME]

Location: Sawmill Road, west of Arters Station
Municipality: Upper Augusta township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:
Exit Sunbury on north 11^th Street (which becomes Snydertown Road) and go 3 miles east to Mill Road. Go south on Mill Road 1 mile, across the creek on the Keefer Station covered bridge, to the T with Sawmill Road. Go west on Sawmill Road 0.7 miles. The cemetery is on the north side of the road, where the road makes a slight curve around it to the south.

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:
     1884,44 – “money is in hand and the contract signed” for new church building
                      “to replace the one rendered untenable by the construction of the SS & LRR”
     1885,44 – dedicated 10/26/1884

Brief History:

     Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 701: “Upper Augusta Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1850, through the efforts of Rev. Joseph Ross.  The original members were John Farnsworth, Samuel Savidge, Silas Wolverton, L. G. Savidge, Robert

Farnsworth, Jonathan Hoover, and George Zimmerman. For a time services were held in an old log school house; land was donated by Joseph Savidge and a church edifice, thirty-five by forty feet, was erected thereon at a cost of seven hundred dollars. Subsequently the church was removed to its present location, and in 1884 the congregation was reorganized with the following membership: Charles Wolverton and wife, E. Straub and wife, E. Rebuck and wife, Elizabeth Hollenback, George Zimmerman, and H. G. Kline.”
This congregation was organized in 1810 and erected a log building about ¾ mile west of Arters Station, on the south side of Shamokin Creek. In 1881 the railroad purchased a right of way through the property and the church had to be moved. In 1884 the materials from the original building were reconstructed on the north side of the creek behind the IOOF orphanage. The appointment was served from Snydertown until 1906, when the building was purchased by the IOOF to be used as a chapel. In 1913 the building was converted into a dwelling, but burned to the ground that same year when a fire spread from the orphanage barn. A small cemetery remains at the original site. The 1884 cornerstone was used in the 1961 Mt. Pleasant church.

Final disposition:

2. Boyle's Run ME

Description: Description: Description: boylesrun $Description: Description: Description: X:\image\closed_churchs\northumberland\boylesrun.jpg$

Location: Boyles Run Road
Municipality: Lower Augusta township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:
From Herndon, go north 4,5 miles on PA47 to Boyles Run Road. Go east on Boyles Run Road 1.8 miles. The cemetery is on the north side of the road.

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:
1911,73 – new church building dedicated August 29, 1910
1967,86 – discontinued; permission to sell

Brief History:

     Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 706-7: “Boyle's Run Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1840 at an old school house on the Boyle's Run road with fifteen members.  The present one-story frame church building, two and one half miles east of Fisher's Ferry was erected in 1846.  This society originally formed part of the Sunbury circuit, but was transferred to the Trevorton circuit in 1865 and in 1880 was attached to the Herndon circuit.  The names of the pastors are given in connection with the historical sketches of those

churches in this work.”
Letter from church historian Mary J. Minnier Engle dated 1952: “Methodists in Boyles Run Valley met in homes to worship as early as 1830. Deed given Harman Shipman Jr. and wife Susannah April 12, 1843. This church was remodeled and rededicated February 22, 1885. The cornerstone for the present church was laid October 1, 1909.”

Final disposition:
When the membership dwindled and the congregation ceased to exist, they voted to dismantle the building rather than sell it and have no control over its future use. Only the cemetery remains.

3. Dalmatia ME
[aka Georgetown ME]

[no picture]

Location: Sunbury Street, village of Dalmatia [formerly known as Georgetown]
Municipality: Lower Mahony township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:
Sunbury Street runs east-west, perpendicular to Pa 147. The building is no longer standing, and its exact location has not been determined.

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:
     1880,36 – church building erected
     1908,37 – check for $194.12 presented as proceeds from sale of the property
     1909,31 – $194.12 received from sale of the property; Georgetown church fund at $194.12

Brief History:

     Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 714: “The Georgetown Methodist Episcopal Church is a frame building situated on the north side of Sunbury street in the eastern part of the village.  The congregation is small numerically, and has no resident pastor.

Final disposition:

4. Dividing Ridge ME

Description: Description: dividing ridge

Location: Reynolds Hill Road
Municipality: Lewis township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:
From the interchange of PA 54 and I-180, go east on PA 54 0.1 miles to the old Susquehanna Trail. Go North on the Old Susquehanna Trails 2.6 miles to Reynolds Hill Road. Go east on Reynolds Mill Road 1 mile to the curve where Murray Road and Dimm Road go off to the north. The building stood on the south side of the road.

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:

Brief History:
This congregation was organized in 1873 and always served from Muncy, Lycoming County. They worshiped in the Dividing Ridge school house until 1930, when they merged into the Muncy congregation

Final disposition:
The property was never owned by the congregation. The structure is believed to be still standing as an abandoned school house.

5. Emanuel EV
[aka Peifers EV]

Location: village of Mandata
Municipality: Jackson township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
East Pennsylvania Conference of the Evangelical Association

Journal references:

Brief History:

     Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 748: “Emanuel Church of the Evangelical Association was organized, January 4, 1878, with Jacob Still, Bastian Stepp, Benjamin Peiffer, Daniel Peiffer, and John C. Reiger as trustees. The church edifice, a frame structure thirty-six by forty-two feet, was purchased from the "new" Lutheran congregation. Reverends B. H. Miller, Mr. Fehr, John Brown, Charles Warmcastle, Howard Bomberger, and Mr. Fisher have served as pastors.”

     This congregation sided with the United Evangelicals in 1894, and stayed out of the 1922 denominational re-union to become part of the Evangelical Congregational Church.

Final disposition:

6. Fisher's Ferry ME

[no picture]

Location: village of Fisher’s Ferry
Municipality: Lower Augusta township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:

Brief History:
This building was supposedly 16x24 feet, located in the area of the “River Cemetery,” and torn down before Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County was written.

Final disposition:

7. Gearhart ME

geargart

Location: Snydertown Road
Municipality: Riverside borough
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Journal references:

Brief History:

    Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page801-2: “The Methodist Episcopal Church of South Danville has existed as an organization from an early period in the history of the Methodist denomination in central Pennsylvania.  Rev. Francis Asbury, the first Methodist bishop in America, makes mention in his journal of having been the guest of General William Montgomery at Danville, whence he crossed the river and preached at Judge Jacob Gearhart's; the Judge's barn was the place of public worship, while class and prayer meetings were regularly held at his house, which occupied the site of the present residence of Rev. Irvin H. Torrence.  The preachers of the Philadelphia, Genesee, and Baltimore Conferences successively included this point in the field of their labors; and here the first Methodist church edifice in that part of Northumberland County south of the North Branch was erected in 1829.  It was a frame building one story high, and was situated within the enclosure of Mt. Vernon cemetery; John Gearhart, a

son of the Judge, supervised the work of construction, and William Gearhart performed the mason-work. This structure was occupied for religious purposes until 1872, when a brick edifice was erected at Riverside; this is the present Episcopal chapel, which, on account of financial embarrassment, the Methodists were unable to retain. Their present place of worship is a substantial brick building.”

Final disposition:
The congregation relocated to Riverside in 1872. Only the cemetery remains.

8. Herndon ME

Description: Description: Description: herndon

Location: 155 Main Street
Municipality: Herndon borough
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:
Herndon is 23 miles north of Halifax on PA 147. Main Street is PA 147. The church is in the south end of town, on the east side of the highway.

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:
1887,51 – voluntarily abandoned over owner claims involving other denominations

Brief History:
Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 747: “Zion Church, Lutheran and Reformed, Herndon, was originally erected as a union place of worship, but ultimately came into the exclusive possession of the Methodist society. In the spring of 1887 it was purchased by the Lutheran and Reformed congregations, of which it has since been the joint property.”

Final disposition:
The property is now Zion Lutheran church.

9. Herndon Mount Zion EA

Description: Description: Description: herndon

Location: village of Herndon
Municipality: Jackson township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
East Pennsylvanian Conference of the Evangelical Association.

Journal references:
1905,31 – the church at Pillow receives ½ the proceeds from the sale of this building

Brief History:
Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 748: “Mt. Zion Church of the Evangelical Association, Herndon, was organized in 1867 with the following officers: class leader, H. B. Longsdorf (who still serves in that capacity); exhorter, Jacob Heim; trustees: H. B. Longsdorf, Hiram Brown, Washington Wilt, and Daniel Reed. Reverends Cornelius Loose, David Lentz, J. F. Wohlfarth, David Stauffer, W. H. Weidner, David Martz, B. H. Miller, E. P. Lehr, J. K. Fehr, D. Z. Kembel, W. H. Stauffer, J. Werner, S. L. Wiest, H. D. Schultz, E. R. Seip, and L. N. Worman have served as pastors. The first church edifice, a brick structure twenty-five by thirty feet, was originally erected in 1867 for school and church purposes and afterward secured by this society. The present frame church building, thirty-five by fifty feet in dimensions, was erected in 1887 under the supervision of a building committee composed of Edward Baum, Samuel Troutman, and Adam Kembel.”
This church remained with the Evangelical Association in 1894 and did not propesper when most of the people left to erect the United Evangelical building in Herndon.

Final disposition:

10. Herndon Seibert UE

Description: Description: Description: herndon

Location:
Municipality:
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
East Pennsylvania Conference of the United Evangelical Church

Journal references:

Brief History:
The building was erected in 1895 by the Evangelical Association dissenters who sided with the United Evangelical Church. The congregation chose not to participate in the 1922 denominational re-union and became part of the Evangelical Congregational Church.

Final disposition:
The building now houses a congregation of the Evangelical Congregational Church.

11. James EV
[aka Hurley EV]

[no picture]

Location:
Municipality:
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Evangelical Association/United Evangelical Church

Journal references:
    1881,12 – Cox’s Church sold, proceeds to Hurley’s Church – both on White Deer circuit
    1914,50 – “Hurly” Church; lot sold in 1895 & owner wants building removed
    1914,75 – authorization to sell, proceeds to parsonage of Milton circuit

Brief History:
The location of this property is not known, and it may not even be in Northumberland County. The 1939 History of the Central Pennsylvania Conference, page 301, indicated Hurley’s was on the White Deer circuit 1879-1880.

Final disposition:

12. Malick UB
[Mile Run UB]

006

Location: Mile Run Road
Municipality: Lower Augusta township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions: Mile Run Road runs from Boyer Hill Road south to Hallowing Run Road.
       From Sunbury: go 3 miles south on PA 147 to Boyer Hill Road, turn left, go 1 mile to Mile Run Road (immediately after a sharp right turn), turn left, go 1 mile to Cemetery Road.
       From Herndon: go 6 miles north on PA 147 to Hallowing Run Road, turn right, go 4 miles to Mile Run Road, turn left, go ½ mile to Cemetery Road.
       The church stood in front of the remaining cemetery in the triangle formed by Miles Run Road, Cemetery Road (a dead end) and the raining cemetery.

Historic Conference:
East Pennsylvania Conference of the United Brethren Church

Journal references:

Brief History:

     Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 705: “Miles Run United Brethren Church was organized at the school house of that name in the winter of 1835-36 through the efforts of Peter and Henry Malick.  Two years later the present one-story frame church building was erected.”

Final disposition:

13. Mandata EV
[Peifer’s EV]

Description: Description: Description: mandata

Location: 337 Mandata Road
Municipality: Jackson township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:
From the intersection of PA 225 and PA 147 in Mandata, go north on Grove Road (Mandata Road) ½ mil to the Y with Church Road. The church is in the Y.

Historic Conference:
East Pennsylvania Conference of the Evangelical Association

Journal references:

Brief History:
This congregation became United Evangelical in 1894 and stayed out of the 1922 denominational reunion to become Evangelical Congregational.

Final disposition:
The building now houses the Peifer’s New Life Evangelical Congregational church.

14. McEwensville ME

[no picture]

Location:
Municipality:
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:

Journal references:

Brief History:
Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 763, lists this as an “extinct church organization” which met in a “frame building, dedicated December 29, 1867.”

Final disposition:

15. Mettler ME

Location:
Municipality: Rush township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:
From the borough of Snydertown, go 2.7 miles north on Main Street to the T at the road connecting Klinesgrove with Rushtown. The church is believed to have stood near the southwest corner of that intersection.

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Journal references:

Brief History:
A log church was erected here in 1829 on land conveyed by Joseph Morgan on September 11 of that year to William Mettler Sr. et al. An old stone parsonage for the charge is reported to have stood in the immediate vicinity. Following the erection of the brick church at Klinesgrove in 1867, the property was sold in 1870.

Final disposition:

16. Milton St. Peter's UB

milton_st_peters

Address: 243 Hepburn Street
Municipality: Milton borough
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
Eastern (formerly East German) Conference of the United Brethren Church
Allegheny Conference of the United Brethren Church

Journal references:
     1913,109 – placed with South Williamsport
     1914,64 – returned to mission station status
     1915,62 – pastor at Milton asked to “look after” Brauns Mills (never a church building there)
     2016,147 – discontinued

Brief History:
A class of 15 members was organized August 10, 1892, by presiding elder W. Uhler of the Shamokin District of the Eastern (formerly East German) Conference. The following year a church costing $1500 was erected on a centrally located lot. In 1901, the Eastern and East Pennsylvania Conferences were combined to make the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, and Milton (and several other churches) became a part of the Allegheny Conference – and remained so until that conference was dissolved in 1952, when it entered the Central Pennsylvania Conference of the EUB Church.

Final disposition:

17. Mount Zion EV

mtzionn

Address: Shakespeare Road, community of Kill Deer Hill
Municipality: West Chillisquaque township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Evangelical Church

Journal references:
2012,160 – merged into West Milton

Brief History:
     This congregation began as a preaching appointment in the Fetzer school house. In the fall of 1870, they purchased the Mt. Zion Methodist church building near the Sodom school house and moved it to Kill Deer Hill – with many former Methodists who had opposed abandoning the appointment helping to form the nucleus of the congregation. The land for the church was donated by Thomas Satteson.
     When the transported building was blown down by a tornado in 1896, the congregation once again met in the Fetzer school house until the present building was completed in 1900. In November 1955, work was begun to enlarge and renovate the church building, and to move it back from the road. This was completed in 1956, and the finished product was dedicated in 1957. The cornerstone reads “Mount Zion UEV Church, Rebuilt in 1899, Moved in 1955.”
     In the face of declining membership and attendance, the congregation held a final service on October 9, 2011, and merged into West Milton

Final disposition:

18. Mount Zion ME
[aka Mount Pleasant ME]

[no picture]

Location: community of Sodom
Municipality: West Chillisquaque township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:

Brief History:
Mt. Zion church was erected by the Methodists in 1858 on a lot west of the 8-sided Sodom school house. It was one of 11 appointments on the Milton circuit, and the parsonage was in McEwensville. In 1870, the congregation disagreed about moving the appointment into Montandon. The appointment ultimately was moved into town, meeting in halls and schools until a building was erected in Montandon in 1874. The building was sold to the Evangelicals in the fall of 1870.

Final disposition:
Part of the furniture and the library were moved to Montandon. The Evangelicals moved the building to Kill Deer Hill. The cemetery at the original location has been farmed over, and no traces of it remain.

19. Rushtown ME

Description: Description: Description: rushtown

Location: Hill Road, community of Rushtown
Municipality: Rush township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:
From the intersection of Sunbury Road and Avenue G, in borough of Riverside, go 3.2 miles south on Avenue G (which becomes Snydertown Road) to the cross roads at Rushtown. Go east on Hill Road about 0.2 miles. The church is on the north side of the road at the edge of the community.

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:
     1891,64 – church building dedicated
     1979,261 – discontinued
     1982,256 – abandoned
     1996,315 – sold

Brief History:
Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 742: “Rushtown Methodist Episcopal Church, of which the corner-stone was laid in the early spring of 1890, and the dedication occurred in the following autumn, was erected under the supervision of a building committee composed of William H. Mettler, J. C. Campbell, Isaac Hoffman, L. C. Bassett, and Frank Ryan. It is a one-story brick building. The society forms part of Snydertown circuit.”
Rushtown was original called Liberty Pole Town, and that is the name that appears in the early church records. The congregation developed from a union Sunday School that had been meeting for about 40 years in a nearby school house. The cornerstone for the church building was laid October 6, 1889, and the structure was dedicated in the fall of 1890. In January 1979 the congregation’s administrative board voted to cease worship services and close the church. The adjacent fellowship hall was dissembled. The church building was placed in the hands of the conference trustees with the understanding that oversight and periodic homecoming services would be the responsibility of the Susquehanna Valley charge and St. Peter’s in Riverside. This arrangement continued into the 1990’s. In 1995 the building was sold for $34,500.

Final disposition:

20. Salem EV
[Zartman EV]

Location:
Municipality: Jackson township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:
“In the vicinity of Otto Station, approximately 5 miles northeast of Herndon.”

Historic Conference:
East Pennsylvania Conference of the Evangelical Association

Journal references:

Brief History:
Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 748: “Salem Church of the Evangelical Association.- Services were first held in this region by the Reverends John Seibert, Stever, Reisner, Hull, Barber, and W. W. Orwig, who preached from place to place in private houses. The first camp-meeting was held in 1844, in the woods of Daniel Zartman, and four years later a log building was erected on land then owned by George Deppen, which was used for school purposes and also as a place of worship by the Evangelical, Lutheran, and Reformed congregations of that section. Later this society worshipped in a frame school house situated on land of Daniel Zartman and on the 15th of September, 1861, a brick church edifice was erected on his farm. The first pastor was Rev. William Heim, and the first trustees were Adam Kembel, Michael Bower, and Joseph H. Reitz.”

Final disposition:
This congregation became Evangelical Congregational and was closed in 1930.

21. St. Luke's EV

Description: Description: Description: st.lukes

Location:
Municipality: Upper Augusta township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:
East Pennsylvania Conference of the Evangelical Association

Journal references:
1924,127 – quit claim deed to descendants of original donor

Brief History:

      Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 705: “St. Luke’s Church of the Evangelical Association was organized in 1889 by the Rev. C. J. Warmcastle, with the following members: Samuel Savidge, S. K. Hile, John Myers, John Bonner, and  Samuel G. Savidge.  A

frame church edifice thirty-five by forty feet was erected soon after the organization was effected. The following pastors have served the society: Reverends C. J. Warmcastle, George Sipe, George Knorr, and W. S. Harris.

Final disposition:

22. Sunbury Albright EV
[Sunbury First EV]

Description: Description: Description: Sunbury Albright

Location: Fifth and Chestnut Streets
Municipality: city of Sunbury
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:
In Sunbury, from the intersection of Front Street (PA47) and Market Street (PA 61) go two blocks south on Front Street to Chestnut Street (truck PA 61). Go 5 blocks east on Chestnut Street to Fifth Street. The church is on the northwest corner of Chestnut and Fifth.

Historic Conference:
East Pennsylvania Conference of the Evangelical Church

Journal references:
2011,230 – merged into St. John’s to form Faith UMC

Brief History:
The Central Pennsylvania Conference organized a class in Sunbury in 1873, which met in school houses until it was discontinued in 1879. In 1887 the East Pennsylvania Conference began to minister to those with an Evangelical background or interest. In 1890, a building was erected at Fourth and Vine Streets. In 1900, the congregation erected a new building at Chestnut and Awl Streets. Their final structure at Chestnut and Fifth Streets was dedicated in 1929. The church sided with the United Evangelicals during the 1894-1922 denominational split and was one of the few congregations in the conference to participate in the reunion that formed the Evangelical Church. The congregation changed its name from First to Albright following the 1946 union to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church – and the Sunbury United Brethren congregation changed its name from First to Otterbein at the same time.

Final disposition:
The property was sold to the city of Sunbury and their Sunbury Renovation Inc. group to be called the Albright Center and be used for non-profit offices, a community center, and a center for the performing arts.

23. Sunbury Second EV

Description: Description: Description: sunbury

Location: 1001 Susquehanna Avenue
Municipality: city of Sunbury
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:
In Sunbury, from the intersection of Front Street (PA47) and Market Street (PA 61) go 1 mile north on PA 147 to Alice Street. Go east 2 blocks on Alice Street to Susquehanna Avenue. The church is in the northwest corner of Susquehanna Avenue and Alice Street.

Historic Conference:
East Pennsylvania Conference of the United Evangelical Church

Journal references:
1904,44 – lot secured

Brief History:
This congregation began in 1904 as a mission outreach of the United Evangelical Church to the north part of Sunbury. In 1922, First [Albright] participated in the denominational reunion that formed the Evangelical Church (which through further unions became Evangelical United Brethren and then United Methodist) while Second sided with the majority of the Eastern Conference of the United Evangelical Church to create the Evangelical Congregational denomination.

Final disposition:
This congregation is now Bethany Evangelical Congregational Church.

24. Troutman EV

Description: Description: Description: troutman

Location:
Municipality: Jordan township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:

Journal references:

Brief History:

    Bell’s 1891 History of Northumberland County, page 774-777: “Trautman's Church of the Evangelical Association was organized in 1826 by Rev. John Seibert.  The first class leader was Daniel Rigel and the families of George Rigel, Jacob Trautman, Samuel Lesher, Frederick

Bohner, Jacob Trautman Jr., and Abraham Trautman formed the early membership. Services were held at private houses until 1877, when the present frame church building was erected by a building committee composed of George W. and John Trautman. It was dedicated on the 5th of

February, 1877.  This society was originally connected with Pine Grove circuit, and then with Mahantango circuit from its foundation in 1845 until 1872 when Uniontown circuit, to which it has since been attached, was formed.”

    This congregation sided with the United Evangelicals in 1894, and stayed out of the 1922 denominational re-union to become part of the Evangelical Congregational Church.

Final disposition:

25. Vincent Union Chapel ME

Description: Description: Description: vincent

Location:
Municipality:
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:

Historic Conference:

Journal references:

Brief History:

Final disposition:

26. Watsontown UMC

DSCN0909

Address: 1319 8^th Street Drive
Municipality: Delaware township
County: Northumberland
State: PA

Directions:
From the “center of Watsontown, Main Street (PA 405) and Brimmer Avenue (the bridge across the Susquehanna), go north 10 blocks to 8^th Street. Go west on 8^th Street 1.5 miles. The church is on the left.

Historic Conference:
Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Journal references:
2023,276 – sold 6/28/2022 for $1,050,500 to William A. Spenser Jr and Assigns

Brief History:
Departures from the congregation left it unable to financially maintain the new building, and the church closed 12/31/2021.

Final disposition:
The property (church building, parsonage, acreage) was sold at public auction 4/28/2022 to the Seventh Day Adventist Church for $955,000 – plus a 10% buyer’s premium for a total purchase price of $1,050,500.