Father Pitt

Tag: Frame Churches

Holy Angels Church, Hays

Here is something that may be unique in the city of Pittsburgh: a timber-framed temporary Catholic church building that not only still stands but is also still in use as a church, now as part of Blessed Trinity parish. Holy Angels was built in 1903, and, as an article in the Post at the time of the dedication explained, it was not meant to be the church for long.

The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Angels, Hays borough, will be dedicated to-day with appropriate ceremonies. Rt. Rev. Bishop Canevin will have charge of the ceremonies. On his arrival he will be escorted to the church by the societies of the congregation. The celebrant at the high mass will be Father Thomas Devlin, rector of Holy Cross, Pittsburg; Father Charles Hipp, of St. Joseph’s, Allegheny, deacon; Father John Barry, of St. Brigid’s, subdeacon, and Father Hegarty, master of ceremonies. Bishop Canevin will preach in English and Father Stephen J. Schramm, of St. George’s, will speak in German.

In November of 1902 the congregation purchased the old Risher homestead for $14,000, which has been used for a rectory. The church to be dedicated is regarded by the congregation as a temporary place of worship till a larger church building is erected. It will then be used for parochial school purposes.

Rev. David Hegarty, the energetic and beloved rector of Holy Angels, Hays borough, was born in Fayette county, Pa., May 5, 1870. His early schooling was obtained in the public institutions. He entered St. Vincent’s college and seminary at Beatty, Pa., in 1891. On completing his studies he was ordained in the seminary July 7, 1900, by Bishop Phelan. Father Hegarty recently recovered from an almost fatal attack of typhoid fever. The dedication of the new church was deferred until his complete recovery.¹

A history page at the diocesan site tells us that the original foundation was wood, but when the church began to sink, the building was raised up and a new concrete-block parish hall built under it.² Over the years the church has been remodeled and improved, but this temporary wooden building is still standing and still serving worshipers after nearly a century and a quarter.

Fujifilm FinePix HS20EXR; Samsung Galaxy A15 5G with ultra-wide lens.

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November 8, 2025
Rennerdale First United Presbyterian Church

The little village of Rennerdale sits halfway between Carnegie and Oakdale on the Noblestown Road. This corner-tower frame church, with its Colonial-style details, reminds us of the Noblestown Methodist Episcopal Church designed by James Allison; and since we know that Allison designed other buildings in the area, it would not surprise us to find that he was responsible for this one. It has been swathed in artificial siding, as our few surviving frame churches usually are; but the siding men did an unusually good job of making sure that the windows and doors were properly framed. The church still belongs to its original congregation.

There’s still a bell in that belfry.

Olympus E-20N.

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August 26, 2025
Bethel Presbyterian Church, Perry South

You might pass this building by on your way up North Charles Street and never think of it as anything other than another outcropping of generic ugliness. In fact it is a rare surviving frame church from the 1880s. It has been covered in sheets of cartoon fake brick, and the windows have been halved, but the building is still here. It was built before 1890 on Gallagher Street, near the intersection with Taggart Street, as the Bethel Baptist Church. By about 1900, Gallagher had changed its name to Melrose Avenue, and this was known as the Melrose Avenue Presbyterian Church. It kept that name as Taggart Street changed to North Charles Avenue.

The Presbyterian congregation has almost been erased from history—it is hard to find more than glancing references to it—but the building has been occupied by a nondenominational congregation.

Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

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April 20, 2025
Union Baptist Church, Knoxville

Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

This church is now a duplex residence, and it may have been deconsecrated for quite a long while. Old maps cease to show it as a church by 1917: this Hopkins plat map simply shows a frame building at the corner of Beltzhoover Avenue and Jucunda Street.

The tower, however, gives it away: though it has been heavily altered, this is a rare surviving frame church from about 1895. It does not appear on an 1893 Sanborn fire-insurance map, but on an 1896 Hopkins plat map it is marked “Union Bapt. Ch.”

Most small frame churches of that era in the city were later replaced by larger brick or stone churches, but this one fizzled out. It appears on an 1898 Sanborn fire-insurance map as “German Baptist Mission,” and perhaps that explains its short life: it may have been an attempt by the Baptists to reach Germans in the heavily German borough of Knoxville, but the Germans preferred to remain Catholic or Lutheran.

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March 23, 2025
First Baptist Church, Coraopolis

Though the renovations with modern materials—understandable for a congregation on a tight budget—have not always been sympathetic, this is still a valuable relic of the era of Victorian frame Gothic churches. As Pittsburgh and its suburbs prospered in the twentieth century, most of those churches were replaces with bigger and brickier structures, so although these churches were once all over western Pennsylvania, remnants like this are fairly rare. This one no longer serves the Baptist congregation (or the Anglican congregation that inhabited it more recently), but some maintenance work seems to be going on.

The distinctive wooden belfry is still in good shape, though missing a few pieces of trim and wanting a bit of paint. The trim is simple and could be replicated in somebody’s garage woodshop.

Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

September 22, 2024
Episcopal Church of the Messiah, Sheraden

Very few Shingle-style frame Gothic churches are left in Pittsburgh with their original wood siding: they usually get covered with artificial siding that obscures all the details and character of the building. How long this rare survivor from the 1890s will last is questionable: it belongs to the Pneuma Center for Biblical Guidance now, and it is always a temptation for organizations on a small budget to solve every problem with vinyl. So far the owners have kept the place beautifully.

October 26, 2023