Blainsport United Brethren Church
Reinholds, Lancaster County, PA
Built in 1848
Blainsport United Brethren Church: 930 West Route 897, Reinholds, PA 17569
The Church on an 1875 Map:
Above: Image source: Historical Atlas of Lancaster County, Everts and Stewart, 1875.
The United Brethren in Christ:
The First Denomination to Originate in America:
The Church of the United Brethren in Christ is the first denomination to originate in America, rather than being transplanted from Europe. The denomination began in Lancaster County in 1767, led by Mennonite preacher Martin Boehm and German Reformed preacher Philip William Otterbein. Lancaster County’s Long Farm in Manheim Township is the birthplace of these German-speaking United Brethren (and Sistren).
This 1848 meetinghouse is the oldest United Brethren church building in northern Lancaster County. Bishop Christian Newcomer organized the first congregation here in 1812, with services held in local homes until this church was constructed. The meetinghouse lost its congregation around 1890 due to the formation of other churches in the area.
In 1941 the Blainsport United Brethren Church and Cemetery Association was formed to manage the site. In 1968 the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church merged to form the United Methodist Church. Today, this church building is a historic site within that Methodist denomination.
Above: The facade facing the road has traces of whitewash that previously covered the stone. The roofing is wood shingles.
Local Bedrock and Building Stone:
Triassic Sandstone of the Hammer Creek Formation:
Above: The church is constructed of Triassic sandstone of the Hammer Creek Formation. Image source: PaGEODE map. (Church icon added)
Description in Our Present Past (1985)
By the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County:
“Reinholdsville United Brethren Church, Route 897, south side, east of Tannery Road; 1848, one story, one bay sandstone meetinghouse; gable end facade; four-light transom over entry; one of the best small meetinghouse type churches now extant in Lancaster County.” Our Present Past, page 350, Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County.
Elsewhere in Lancaster County:
The 1767 Birthplace
of these United Brethren (and Sistren)
in the Long Barn:
Above: 1941 photo of the Long Barn in Manheim Township. Photo by the Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress. In 1767 the first meeting was held in this barn for a group that became the United Brethren in Christ.