Christ Lutheran Church - Egypt, WA - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

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Christ Lutheran Church - Egypt, WA

in This Old Church

Posted by:  T0SHEA

11T E 408001 N 5301575

Seemingly alone and lonely, this little country church stands beside Highway 25 in north central Washington, more than fifteen miles from the nearest town.

Accompanied only by its parsonage, Christ Lutheran Church stands nearly alone in the rolling countryside, in the valley of a small creek which flows intermittently by. A couple of farmsteads are nearby, but otherwise the surrounding countryside is bereft of signs of civilization.

Judging by the names on headstones in the Egypt Cemetery, the community of Egypt was initially settled by a predominance of German immigrants, in the main all former farmers. One of the earliest localities in Lincoln County to attract the attention of the prospective settler, the area was first settled in the late 1870s. The small city of Davenport, 16 miles to the south, became the county seat. We have no information concerning Egypt itself; it's unlikely that there ever was a town or even a hamlet here. Egypt is listed as a "cultural feature" in the Washington Gazetteer. So, what Egypt consists of today seems to be this church. Founded in 1890 as settlers arrived, the congregation doubtless met in private homes until the completion of this building in 1906.

Doubtless built by the German immigrants who settled here, this is a cute little wood framed building, built on a very standard plan of a rectangular sanctuary behind a centred front steeple/bell tower. While otherwise quite plain in design, the church has Gothic Revival openings all around, including sanctuary windows, the transom over the entrance and the wood filled transom over the belfry vent openings. The belfry comprises the upper section of the square tower, which is set about half its depth into the sanctuary. Belfry vents, covered with wooden slats, all have scroll cut trefoil designs in each of the Gothic Arched transoms above; midway between the entrance transom and the belfry bottom is a single round window filled with coloured glass. The entire building remains clad in wood shiplap siding, while the slightly flared hipped roofed steeple and the sanctuary roof are covered in black asphalt shingles.

Apparently, before 1957, when Highway 25 was rerouted locally, the church faced in a different direction at a slightly different location. Exact details are unknown.