Sell Chapel at Masonic Village
Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, PA
Built in 1927

Above: Sell Chapel at Masonic Village, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania

 Masonic Village
A Showcase of Gothic Revival Design:

Above: Elizabethtown’s Masonic Village is a retirement community of the Freemasons of Pennsylvania. This 1400-acre campus is a showcase of historic stone buildings built with Holmesburg granite (granite gneiss) and Indiana limestone trim. The Grand Lodge Hall, above, is the central building.

 Description in Our Present Past (1985)
By the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County:

 Masonic Village: “largest, richest collection of Perpendicular Gothic Revival structures in Pennsylvania between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh; land purchased and construction began in 1910…very important complex, both in terms of architecture and landscape design.” Our Present Past, page 169, Historic Preservation Trust, 1985.

Above: Main entry into the John S. Sell Memorial Chapel.

 The Three Building Stones of Masonic Village
Granite gneiss, Limestone, & Bluestone:

Above: The Sell Chapel and other primary buildings of Masonic Village are constucted with this trio of building stone. 1.: Holmesburg granite walls (granite gneiss) from Holmesburg, Northeast Philadelphia, 2. Indiana limestone trim from the state of Indiana, 3. Wyoming bluestone steps and flagstones from Wyoming County, PA.

Holmesburg Granite (Granite Gneiss)
From Northeast Philadelphia
The Quarry on a 1908 Map:

Above: A pick-and-hammer icon indicates the location of the granite-gneiss quarry at Holmesburg, near Philadelphia. Today the quarry is long gone. The site is home to the James Ramp Recreation Field. Image source: Areal Geology, State of New Jersey, Henry B. Kummel, 1908 (arrow added).

The Holmesburg Granite Quarry
on a Modern Geology Map:

Above: The granite from the Holmesburg quarry near Philadelphia is actually granite gneiss, which is granite transformed by metamorphism into gneiss. The historic name for this stone is Holmesburg granite. This quarry’s peak production was from the 1890s to 1925. Image source: PaGEODE (quarry icon added).

Above: The Holmesburg granite is beautifully laid in snecked rubble-work courses with overhung ridge joints. It is the work of master masons.

Masonic Village: Acres of monumental buildings crafted of Holmesburg granite, like a showcase of historic stone masonry.