It is cheering to report that this impressive little Gothic church, once an abandoned hulk, has now been stabilized and put to use, apparently as a private home. Some of the stained glass was smashed while it was abandoned, but the remainder has been kept in place and covered with clear glass to seal up the holes. Since it sits in a prominent spot diagonally across from the Carnegie Free Library of McKeesport, it improves the neighborhood quite a bit to have this building occupied.
The cornerstone bears a date of 1903.
The outsized tower and shadowy inset corner porch are distinctive features.
3 responses to “First Reformed Church, McKeesport”
Were records such as infant baptisms preserved by the church?
Where can records from the First Reformed Church of McKeesport be found? How far back were records saved?
Here are three places you might try looking:
1. The Heinz History Center collects church records from churches that donate them.
2. Someone at the McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center might have some suggestions about where to look.
3. Hundreds of thousands of items are digitized at Historic Pittsburgh, and a patient search might turn up some of the church records. You have to be patient because the search engine is slow as molasses, and then you’ll have to refine your search several times to get what you want, but the depth of the collection is amazing.