A review of the church's history posed more questions than it answered. Clearly the church is more than a hundred years old, but what the exact age is, I am uncertain not am I sure where the church first rested. In 1859, a lot was purchased at the corner of Broad and Main streets. The cornerstone for the first structure was laid on June 9th, 1859 and on Saturday, June 9th,1860 Bishop William Henry Odenheimer consecrated the first frame church building where Holy Communion was administered at Riverton for the first time. Previously, church services were held in homes.
The Parish of Christ Episcopal Church was incorporated in 1860. In 1868, vestryman William P.Ellison purchased and presented to the parish the land which houses our present complex. The original Church building was moved here in 1871.. I do not know what this means. Does this mean the church was built here or physically moved here? I doubt the later as this is one massive structure, built of large blocks of stone. But then I found another reference to this corner lot: On July 10, 1884, the present stone church was consecrated by the Bishop John Scarborough. The original frame building was moved to Palmyra and still serves as Christ Church, Palmyra today. So it seems, there was something on this lot which was moved and sometime in the early 1880s, this massive edifices was constructed. SOURCE
The church is physically similar to many other Philadelphia churches constructed in the same area with the notable exception of a cornerstone, which is absent (or perhaps I could not find it). The church looks like a garrison or military fortification than a religious building. The bell tower is a rectangular affair rising three stories in the air, topped with a pyramidal roof about 15 feet high topped with a finial of a bronze design. The third floor of the tower is blind on all four sides, all windows arched up top are all louvered shut. The second floor has three, oblong narrow slits, all four sides. The first level is the entrance to the church, located on the right side of the building. I really liked the entrance with its large, bright red, wooden doors and two massive sconces to the right and left. Attached to the right side of the tower, extending up to the second level is a round protrusion topped with a conical roof. The cylindrical tower looks like more like a sentry tower than anything else.
The main sanctuary is very long and somewhat wide. A bay juts out front with a large, round stained glass window over which gives rise to a gabled roof, topped with a cross and extending back to a similar gable topped with the same cross. There are other weird architectural curiosities about the building, rising here, extending there, all topped with crosses or really neat looking chimneys.
The corner lot is huge. To the right is a large area or courtyard, circular and grassy, which serves as a reflective area I'd imagine for parishioners. I walked around back there. It's nice. Peaceful. I also found several citizen memorials, one dedicated to a clergy member and another to a member of the church. I visited the church on a sunny Saturday afternoon, February, 25, 2012.
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