Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church
Bart Township, Lancaster County, PA
Built ca. 1800 and 1913
Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church 1199 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA. The towers are a 1913 addition to the main structure built ca. 1800.
Above: The building stone is local Chickies quartzite. The 1913 addition, shown here, is laid mostly in random ashlar while the earlier, main structure is laid in rubble stone. Roughcast plaster previously covered the stone.
History in Churches and Cemeteries
of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania:
Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church
1727 - Organized by Rev. Adam Boyd.
1738 - Land deeded to church which was built in 1730s.
1741 -1758 - During the Old Side / New Side split this church adhered to the Old Side. New Side members met in the Covenanter Church across the road.
1780 - 1820s - Present church built.
Source: Churches and Cemeteries of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, A. Hunter Rineer, 1993, page 43. LancasterHistory
Above: Building Stones of Pennsylvania, by Ralph W. Stone, 1932.
Chickies Quartzite Building Stone:
Above: Some of the Chickies quartzite glistens with white mica. Other stones are colored brown with iron oxide.
Above: Finely crafted ribbon mortar joints of the front facade.
This Church on a Geology Map:
Above: Image based on: Bedrock Geologic Map… Gap Quadrangle, Howell Bosbyshell, 2007.
The building stone of this church is local Chickies quartzite of the Chickies Formation. Chickies Rock Overlook, near Marietta, is also part of this formation. Lancaster County’s Chickies Rock is one of this region’s best know geologic sites. It is one of the most famous exposed anticlines (folded geologic arches) in the northeast U.S.
A band of Chickies quartzite bedrock is located north of this church. It is not the most typical building stone of Lancaster County, compared to the more usual use of limestone, sandstone, or schist.
Chickies quartzite has been used for historic buildings in this Middle Octorara neighborhood for generations. This building stone is like an architectural signature of this community.
Above: Chickies quartzite of the Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church. This original, main building of the church was constructed ca. 1800.
Description in Our Present Past (1985)
By the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County:
“Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church, Valley Road, south side, west of Quarry Road; c. 1790 / 1914; two story, five bay stone church, Victorian Romanesque style; gable end facade; entry on gable end; square stone towers flanking gable end, one is one story, the other three stories; narthex and towers were added to simple meetinghouse in 1914.” Our Present Past, page 36, Historic Preservation Trust, 1985.