Grace Episcopal Church
Nickel Mines, Lancaster County, PA
Built in 1857
Above: The former Gap Mines Episcopal Church. It became Nickel Mines Mennonite Church, 1981 Mine Rd, Paradise, PA.
In the 1850s the Gap Mining Company donated the land for this Episcopal church.
History in Churches and Cemeteries
of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania:
Grace Episcopal Church (1857 - 1880s)
1856 - Church services were first held in the carpenter shop of the Gap Mining Company, with the support of mine owners.
1857 - Church was built, congregation formally organized two years later.
1880s - Services ended and congregation dissolved when mines closed and members moved away.
1935 - Nickel Mines Mennonite Church organized by Lancaster Mennonite Conference.
1965 - Property title transferred to Mennonites.
Source: Churches and Cemeteries of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, A. Hunter Rineer, 1993, page 44, LancasterHistory
Above: The 1857 cornerstone
1857: Laying of the Church Cornerstone
A Mine Workers’ Holiday:
Above: Image source: LNP Archives
Smelter Workers at the Mine:
Above: Smelter workers of Gap Nickel Mines, ca. late 1800s. The mine employed approx. 200 workers at its peak. Many of these employees were British immigrants. For them, the mining village’s Episcopal church provided rituals and services similar to the Church of England in their British homeland.
Standing at front right (wearing a vest) is mine superintendent Captain Charles Doble. He emigrated from Devonshire, England. Image source: LancasterHistory.
Gap Nickel Mines Owner:
Quaker Businessman Joseph Wharton
Founder of Wharton School of Business:
Above: Nickel Mines owner Joseph Wharton
Image source: Wikipedia.
Above: Joseph Wharton founded the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He also was a founder of Bethlehem Steel and Swarthmore College. Image source: Wikipedia.
This Gap Nickel Mine
Produced One Sixth of World’s Supply of Nickel:
Image source: The Pennsylvania Magazine…, W. Ross Yates, 1977
Nickel Mines, Lancaster County
Was One of the World’s Most Productive Nickel Mines:
Nickel was discovered here at Nickel Mines in 1853. This was one of the first disoveries of nickel deposits in North America. Joseph Wharton’s Gap Nickel Mine was at one time the only supplier of nickel in this country. In the 1880s geologist Persiphor Frazer Jr. described this Gap nickel mine as one of the most celebrated mines in the United States. The Geology of Lancaster County, Frazer, 1880.
Above: Mica schist and related building stone of the Nickel Mines church.
In 1880 geologist Persiphor Frazer Jr. explained “The rocks which cover this township [Bart Township] are mica schist and their congeners, except where the narrow strip of the Chester Valley limestone crosses below Georgetown.” The mine’s nickel ore encrusts hornblende rock which is imbedded in the mica schist. The Geology of Lancaster County, Frazer, 1880, page 78.
Historic Nickel Coins
With Nickel from Gap Nickel Mines:
In the 1860s Gap Mines owner Joseph Wharton lobbied the federal government to issue coinage made with nickel. In 1865 his efforts convinced Congress to approve the use of a three-cent coin made of nickel and copper. The next year, 1866, Congress approved another nickel-and-copper coin, the five-cent Shield nickel. The Philadelphia Mint issued these coins. Philadelphia was Joseph Warton’s hometown.
The Local Building Stone:
Gneiss, Quartzite, and Schist:
Above map detail: Geologic Map of Pennsylvania, by Berg, Edmonds, Geyer, etc., 1980. (Church icon added)
Description in Our Present Past (1985)
By the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County:
“ Gap Mines Protestant Episcopal Church, (Nickel Mines Mennonite Church), Nickel Mines Road, 1857, one and one-half story, three bay masonry church; pointd arch windows; Episcopal congregataion organized here in 1856 for nickel miners; church built in 1857.” page 35, Our Present Past, Historic Preservation Trust, 1985.