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Eckley churches
What's on this page:
- Mentions of Eckley churches in 1880 and 1893 regional histories
- St. James Episcopal Church, 1859
- Presbyterian Church, 1859
- Immaculate Conception Church, 1861
- St. John’s Reformed Church, 1892, 1894
- Eckley Lutheran congregation
- Presbyterian Church of Freeland
- Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church - off-site
- St. John’s Reformed Church
- St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Freeland
- Eckley Miners Village - off-site
Top left of page: St. John’s Reformed Church, Eckley, image cropped from a postcard postmarked 1906 (full postcard image is shown further below)
Mentions of Eckley churches in 1880 and 1893 regional histories
From W. W. Munsell’s History of Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming Counties, Pa., …, 1880:
“The Heberton circuit of the Methodist Episcopal church was organized May 15th, 1875, and embraced the following appointments: Upper Lehigh, South Heberton, Highland and Jeddo borough in the township of Foster, and Latimer, Milnesville, Ebervale and Humbolt in the township of Hazle. Eckley was added, and Humbolt was dropped the same year. In 1876 Harleigh, in Hazle township, and Sandy Run, in Foster, were added to the circuit. All of the above were school-house appointments except South Heberton and Milnesville.”
[Munsell writing about Eckley] – “... The Protestant Episcopal and Presbyterian churches were built in 1858, and since then the Catholic church. The population is about 600.”
From H. C. Bradsby’s History of Luzerne County …, 1893:
St. James Protestant Episcopal church, Eckley; organized 1858; church built 1858. Rectors: Rev. James Walker, 1871-5; A. H. Boyle, 1875-6; John Inland, 1876-92. After the formation of St. James church, Drifton, this point was being much reduced in numbers and means.
Immaculate Conception, Eckley: Pastor, Rev. Thomas Brehony. He attends from there several out missions.
St. James Episcopal Church, 1859
Most early
miners and owners in Eckley were English and Welsh Protestants (mostly
Episcopalians and Presbyterians). In 1859 work began on two churches,
both of which would also have schools. St. James Episcopal Church was
consecrated on Feb. 7, 1860 as part of the Upper Lehigh Mission. There
were also Lutheran and Reformed congregations in Eckley, who shared the
Episcopalian and Presbyterian church buildings. By the 1880s the original mine owners had left, and Irish and eastern European Catholics had immigrated to Eckley. The Protestant congregations declined. The Presbyterian Church was taken apart and rebuilt on Front street in Freeland by Amandus K. Berger and his crew, and St. James fell into disrepair and was finally removed in 1938.
From Eckley Miners Village website:
In 1860, another church following the same exact plans as Eckley’s church was built in White Haven by the same architect. When the PHMC acquired Eckley in 1974, the congregation of the White Haven church, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, donated the structure to the village. Because the buildings were built to the same design the White Haven church fit seamlessly onto the original foundation. While the items on the inside are all from the White Haven church, all items including the stained glass are appropriate for Eckley as they were part of the same parish faith. http://eckleyminersvillage.com/history/
Barbara Bartol Rentenbach shared this photo
and wrote: Here is one from
St. James, Eckley, my
grandmother wrote all the names on it. it is probably abt 1912-13. Top
L-R: Russell Henry, Leona Sauers, Charlotte Feissner (my grandmother),
___ Henry. Bottom Row: Eva Hauser, Mamie Keller, Kate Hauser, Geniva
Hauser, Mary Birbeck. You may post it and I don't know what the
occasion was, I agree not Holy Communion, my grandmother looks to be
about 15. … Yes I love the bows too, maybe a Sunday school class. I
wonder if St. James was a very big church? I have two other photos of
the church and it seems quite small. Maybe someone else may recognize a
name on the list. From Bob Zimmerman: The woman second from left, back row, is Leona Sauers who became my aunt when she married my uncle, Robert Zimmerman, for whom I was named. I have to guess the date of this image as ca. 1915.
--- The restored church building ---
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission dedicated St. James, Eckley, a restored building in Eckley Miner’s Village, on May 1, 1976, in a ceremony that included remarks by the Right Reverend Lloyd E. Gressle, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem. The organist for the musical interlude before those remarks was R. Carl Ernst.
The brochure for the ceremony contains this history: The Reverend Peter Russell moved to Eckley in 1856 to accept the Episcopal Mission in the Upper Lehigh mining region of Pennsylvania. This mission comprised the villages of Eckley, Clifton, Rockport and White Haven. There were few communicants: one at White Haven, two at Rockport, and seven at Eckley. St. James parish in Eckley was organized March 15, 1858. It was named after St. James Church, Philadelphia, the home parish of the Coxe family, owners of the coal property.
On June 2, 1859, the vestry resolved to build a church and construction of the church began June 8th. The first service was held in the basement of the partially completed building on October 16, 1859. The consecration of St. James Church, Eckley, took place on the evening of February 7, 1860. It was estimated that tree hundred and fifty persons filled the church.
The Upper Lehigh Mission grew steadily and a church was built at White Haven using the same plans as the church at Eckley. St. Paul’s Church at White Haven was consecrated on October 13, 1861.
St. James Episcopal Church served the village of Eckley until it was torn down in 1938. St. Paul’s in White Haven continued in use until 1974, when the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem donated the building to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. The church was removed from its site and rebuilt on the foundation of the Eckley Church in the winter of 1974-1975. This church will henceforth be called St. James, Eckley, and will take its place in the interpretation of the life of the people in this anthracite mining village.
Thanks to Eckley Miners Village, to Bob Zimmerman and Barbara Bartol Rentenbach for photos and information, and to Charlie Stumpf for research and the brochure.
Eckley Presbyterian Church, 1859
Construction of the Presbyterian Church in Eckley was begun in 1859, the same year as St. James Episcopal Church. Both congregations had previously begun attending services in the home of the mine owner.
From Bob Zimmerman: The Presbyterian
Church on Front St. resulted from
the combining of three congregations-Sandy Valley, Eckley and Upper
Lehigh. I also have a copy of some of the early records including those
from Eckley. August Von Donop (Freeland’s founder) and John Leisenring,
who was one of the early coal operators in Eckley, attended the
Presbyterian Church in Eckley.Bob later added: The site of the former Presbyterian Church was within 50 feet east of the Episcopal Chancel. The early Presbyterians would have been ethnic Scots and the Episcopalians of course were English. Even though I don’t yet have all the documentation to substantiate my opinion, I believe the Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian and, possibly, Methodists had “patchtown” congregations prior to building churches in Freeland.
From
Charles Stumpf’s Freeland book, p. 13-14: During the month of
May 1894,
building contractor A. K. Burger moved the Eckley Presbyterian Church
to a new location in Freeland. The pulpit, seats and church lamps were
temporarily stored in the Williamson stable but all were lost in a fire
the following month. On June 21st the cornerstone was laid for the
Presbyterian Church, relocated at Front Street below Washington. Rev.
J. W. Bischoff officiated at the rededication in October. The photo at
left comes from Bob Zimmerman. Plain Speaker article September 20, 1957: Presbyterian Church To Dedicate Sanctuary On Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock the Freeland Presbyterian Church will dedicate its recently-remodeled sanctuary and re-dedicate the church building.
The celebration will coincide with the 100th anniversary of Presbyterianism on the North Side. The first Presbyterian congregation was organized at Eckley in August, 1857.
The church in which the Eckley congregation worshipped was later dismantled and re-erected in Freeland, forming the basic structure of the church as it is today.
… In the church sanctuary there remains only one item from the old church. This is the set of pulpit chairs which were given by B. F. Davis in 1925. The chairs have been refinished in bleached green oak to match the pews and other furniture and have been upholstered with ruby red velvet. …
Thanks to Ed Merrick for this article, and Bob Zimmerman for information and the photo.
Immaculate Conception Church, 1861
From the Eckley Miners Village website:
Eckley’s Catholic Church was built at the eastern end (the poorer side) of the town to serve the Irish parishioners who lived there in the 1850s and 1860s. When middle and eastern European immigrants arrived in the 1880s and 90s to take the laborer positions, however, they chose to walk the three miles into Freeland instead of using the church. The church was de-consecrated in the 1950s, and all items, except for the original altar, were removed. The Church’s interior has been restored to its 1920s appearance. All furnishings, artifacts, paintings and decorations are typical of the time period, although many are from several other Catholic Churches around the area, especially Immaculate Conception Church in Berwick.
http://eckleyminersvillage.com/history/
The altar
was consecrated on October 25, 1861, and the first priest for
this parish was Father Patrick J. Noonan, who served the parish until
1868. He was succeeded by Rev. Michael J. Falihee. By 1902, St. Ann’s
Church in Freeland, originally founded as a mission to Immaculate
Conception, was upgraded to parish status and the Eckley church was
downgraded to mission status. Rev. Falihee moved to the Freeland parish
in 1902. This photo comes from a 2x2” slide purchased on eBay. 
These
two announcements appeared in the Freeland
Tribune in 1889 and 1892,
advertising the Immaculate Conception Church’s annual fair that began
on Christmas Eve. The 1889 notice makes the point that “The parish
being very small and composed entirely of poor people it is expected
that neighboring parishes will help.” These fairs were community events
aimed at raising funds for the maintenance of the church. In 1889 they
were still going house to house to collect contributions; in 1892
contributions could be brought or sent to the rectory. The 1892 fair
had as its goal clearing the debt incurred by repairs and the heating
system of the church. 
For some years Immaculate Conception and later St. Ann’s in
Woodside were the only Catholic churches in the Freeland area, and so
Catholic miners and others attended mass there regardless of their
ethnic backgrounds. However, from the 1880s to 1900 four new Catholic
churches were founded in Freeland to serve middle and eastern European
populations: St. Casimir’s for Poles and Lithuanians, St. Mary’s Greek
Catholic for Carpatho-Rusyns and Slovaks, St. John Nepomucene for
Slovaks, St. Anthony’s for Italians and Tyroleans. As a result, many
Catholics
from those groups who lived in nearby company towns went to Freeland to
attend mass, many of them walking there and back. This photo comes
courtesy of the Greater Hazleton Historical Society and shows the
church as well as the nearby public school which stood on property that
now holds
the museum. From Charlie Gallagher, who found this online: “St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Eckley was a mission church of St. Joseph’s in Laurytown.” I had written to him to ask if he happened to know where Catholics in Eckley were being buried when they were parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church. I still have that question.
Thanks to Eckley Miners Village, Greater Hazleton Historical Society, and Charlie Gallagher for contributions to this section.
St. John’s Reformed Church, 1892, 1894
“The Reformed
Church at Eckley, Pa., was organized by Rev. H. A. I. Benner, who
served as pastor from October 1892 to June 1897. Rev. J. B. Kerschner,
D.D., served as pastor from November, 1897 to May 1914. Rev. A. O.
Bartholomew served this congregation as Supply Pastor from Oct. 1914 to
July, 1921. Rev. W. T. Harner served as Supply Pastor from October,
1921 to the Fall of 1923. This congregation had at one time a
membership of 67, and a Sunday School with an enrollment of 124.
Through removals the membership constantly decreased, until in the last
years of the history of this congregation, there were only about 10
members remaining. The congregation disbanded in the fall of 1923. The
building was sold, and the proceeds were given to the Building Fund of
the Church at Freeland.” (From: “St. John’s Reformed Church, Freeland,
Pa.”, by the Rev. W. T. Harner. In: Reformed
Church history [of Hazleton and vicinity]. Hazleton: July 1924,
page 60 - booklet shared courtesy of Carol Jones.) The postcard at left
is postmarked 1906.
Freeland Tribune August 23, 1894: Reformed Church of Eckley
Articles incorporating “St. John’s Reformed Church of Eckley” were filed in the prothonotary’s office at Wilkes-Barre.
Thanks to Carol Jones for sharing Rev. Harner's history.
Eckley Lutheran Congregation
There was also a Lutheran congregation in the town, and later, a Reformed congregation. The Reformed congregation built their own church, but the Lutherans did not and instead they held services in one of the other Protestant churches in Eckley.
From Bob Zimmerman 8-15-2008:
The Lutheran Church had its beginning in Eckley ca.1865. I have a copy of the early birth and baptism records from the Eckley period. As far as can be determined there was never an actual structure there in the form of a church where they would have met. I translated these records from the German about 20 years ago and placed copies in the church on Washington St. and the Eckley Miner’s Museum and kept a copy for myself. The congregation in Freeland was established in 1876. Betty (Procopio) Shultz’s grandfather Joe Ranieri built the stone church which replaced the original wooden structure in Freeland.
From St. Luke’s centennial booklet:
In 1868 Rev. J. R. Schmidt, the founder and first pastor of St. Luke’s was urged by the Rev. C. F. Welden, D.D., then Superintendent of Missions of the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania, to take charge of the White Haven Mission. This charge consisted of White Haven and Eckley, with a number of preaching points in the coal region.
He preached for the first time on June 29, 1868 and was elected pastor. He moved to White Haven in September and services were held there every other week. The intervening Sundays were given to Eckley and other points – there being four and sometimes five services in number.
… The congregation [in White Haven] increased in such measure that it felt itself able to call its own pastor so as to have services every Sunday morning and evening, thus becoming self-sustaining.
This necessitated a division of the charge, and the pastor giving up White Haven, retained the other part of the field, preaching regularly at Upper Lehigh, Eckley and Jeddo with occasional services at other points. On August 25, 1875, he moved to Freehold (later changed to Freeland). …
Thanks to Eckley Miners Village, Greater Hazleton Historical Society, Charlie Stumpf, Bob Zimmerman, Barbara Bartol Rentenbach, Carol Jones, Ed Merrick, Charlie Gallagher for contributions to this page.