Bethesda Church - Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site - Elverson, PA
Posted by: 
Janila
N 40° 12.214 W 075° 45.512
18T E 435443 N 4450626
The Bethesda Church was established by Thomas Lloyd around 1781 and served the workers from the Hopewell Furnace during its early days. It sits on the southeast corner of the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site.
Waymark Code: WMZ7E5
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 09/23/2018
Views: 2
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site illustrates the adaptability of founder Mark Bird as he initially rebelled against the colonial government by refining cast iron into wrought iron, a process formerly completed by sending the cast iron to England for the refining. As the Revolutionary War began, Bird moved from making refined stove plates to cannons and shot. After the war, Bird was not able to recover financially from the role he played in promoting independence and he was forced to sell the plantation to the Brooke family. By 1816, a clever plantation manager by the name of Clement Brooke, succeeded in making iron products that became very popular along the East Coast until 1837. Again, the business began to flounder but picked up when the Civil War created a demand for pig iron, the product from which cast iron is made. With the end of the war and the development of the Bessemer steel production process, came the demise of the iron forge business. Hopewell remained a summer residence for descendants of the second owners, the Brookes, until 1935 when it was sold to the US government.
The Bethesda Church is listed as a contributing building #25 to the Hopewell Village National Historic Site. It is located about a mile away from the actual village and furnace. Bethesda Baptist Church began life as a non-denominational church about 1782 as defined by an inscription in charcoal on a beam in the attic. The inscription says that the church was "built 1782 by T. Lloyd". In 1827, the church and its congregation were accepted by the Philadelphia Baptist Association.
The nomination form for the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site has not yet been digitized but I obtained a copy of it. From my copy, Bethesda Church is described as a "One story masonry church with attic and no cellar, surrounded by walled cemetery. Open Carriage shed adjoins wall." Church constructed ca. 1782. Interior restored 1975. Exterior restored 1982. Presently used as Baptist Church."
A later entry on the nomination form states:
"One of the institutions associated with the furnace community which continued in use after the close of the Furnace was Bethesda Church. The church, originally known as Lloyds Meeting House, was constructed about 1782. Although not part of the Furnace proper, its members were historically drawn from the Furnace community; in 1830 most of its members were Hopewell Furnace employees."
The nomination form for the Hopewell Village National Historic Site has not yet been scanned and uploaded to the NRHP website. It you wish to view it, I have uploaded it to my blog at (
visit link) .