The Brick Church

 A Brief History  (1740s – current)

of the Tinicum United Church of Christ

Early German settlers gathered to worship in the mid-1700s in Tinicum Township (founded 1738). In 1789, a group of six trustees bought property on which to build a church. The original church building was made from logs and shared by two congregations, the German Reformed (Calvanist Germans) and the Lutherans.

By 1808, the two groups outgrew the log structure and built a new brick building on that site. Ever expanding, in 1861 the two congregations purchased more land close by, the present site of The Brick Church. The new brick building was distinguished by a 160’ steeple.

In July of 1907, all was destroyed in a fire that left only the outside walls. The tip of the church steeple, thought to have been hit by lightning as the cause of the fire, is on display in the current church at that site. The possibility of arson was not completely ruled out.

It was during this transition that the Reformed congregation bought out the Lutherans’ share for $900. The Lutherans built a stone church less than a mile west along Dark Hollow Road. By 1908, the present church was completed and dedicated.

The United Church of Christ was formed in 1957 nationally by merging the Evangelical and Reformed, Christian and Congregational churches. In 1962, the Upper Tinicum congregation sold their share in a church building to join the Lower Tinicum congregation, forming the current Tinicum United Church of Christ.

Artwork by Anne Spadea Darrow Combs