Contemporary Uses Paper: Duncannon Log Church

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In Duncannon Pa at the top of Cemetery Road is the Duncannon Presbyterian Cemetery. The road narrows and bends in between large sections of green lawn filled with gravestones. Follow the most outside road around the cemetery towards the older side where the stones begin to fade, slow down for the sharp bend and at the far corner you'll find where the first log church that was built in Duncannon stood. The one that is standing there now is not that church, but a replica, built to look exactly like the original. The original church was built in 1804 and was for both white men and Indians alike. The first preacher was Joseph Brady who was pastor for 17 years. It wasn't a greatly populated area but people came from miles around for the services. As the settlement grew so did the congregation and they soon built a new church on High Street in 1841. Even with the main church there were still occasional services held in the old one until is was blown down by a storm in 1866 (Hein, 957). In 1970, Mrs Harry Clark Boden IV led the building of a replication of the church as a tribute to the early settlers in the area, especially to their ancestors who first ran the Clark's ferry. The contractor was a Mr. Charles Shirey who came from Birdboro and the project cost about $40,000. In 1994, a Mrs. Adele Fox gave a generous donation to help to restore the church. The outside was given a chemical preservation treatment and the inside was white washed and there today it still stands. The church's architecture over all is simple. It is 24 by 34 square feet and set on a stone wall. It is a frontier style cabin and is made from hand hewn logs, which are notched at each end so that they fit together snugly at the corners. The roof is shingled... ... middle of paper ... ... who lived in the area. For this they had to use what resources they had available to them. Then when the Replica was built they wanted to make it as close to the original as possible to honor and preserve the history of the land and the people that originally lived there, and who built and attended that church. Today, now that it is not used, it stands as a memorabilia of the original settlers, the work and troubles they went though and the way they got together to praise and worship. The trials and tribulation of the time frame. The connection with nature, with the forests, the mountains and the rivers. Works Cited Church Wall Plaque. Duncannon Cemetery, Duncannon, PA. Crouse, Ted. "Info for Cemetery Church." E-mail interview. 10 June 2011. Hain, H. H. “History of Perry County, Pennsylvania.” Harrisburg: Hain-Moore, 1922. Print.

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