The Tacony United Methodist Church was the first Tacony church to close its doors in 2001, amongst over a dozen other deep-rooted religious congregations in the neighborhood. The brownstone building, situated at the Southeast corner of Longshore Avenue and Hegerman Street, was constructed in two stages. For nearly 130 years it housed a proud congregation which featured a thriving Sunday School program.
The genesis of the Tacony United Methodist Church, formerly known as the Tacony Methodist Episcopal (M. E.) Church, can be traced to fifteen years before the official founding of the congregation. Three young men from Bridesburg; William Dungan, Jacob Whiteman, and Omar Kinsley, sought to fill a void in this slowly emerging community to serve the needs of the local children in gaining valuable early religious influence of Protestant Sabbath School fellowship and training. In 1858, the closest Methodist Churches and Sunday Schools were in Holmesburg and Bridesburg.
The birth and growth of the neighborhood's Methodist congregation virtually mirrored that of Tacony itself. Having merged with the City of Philadelphia in 1846, the community was a small town sandwiched between the railroad the Delaware River, comprised primarily of railroad and steamship workers, as well as land owners with larger parcels, including farms and Summer homes for well-to-do Philadelphians. Tacony was the location of the terminus for the railroad leaving to and from New York, and travelers heading into Center City would almost exclusively have to board at the Washington Avenue (now Disston Street) Wharf. As a result, several hotels dotted the landscape, as well as the fledgling St. Vincent's School & Orphanage, Lynford & Lardner's old farmhouse, Jacob Cook's grocery store, and small industries like Alfred Jenks & Son and the sawmill operated by George Fitzwater.
According to first hand accounts handed down by one of the founders, the old River Road ultimately became Tacony Street, which took a zig-zag route. Generally paralleling the rail line, the roadway varied anywhere from a dozen to several hundred feet East of the line and curved abruptly Westward past the Washington Avenue wharf, only to curve East again near St. Vincent's. Longshore Avenue was then a country road known as Jimmy Robinson's Lane, named after a large family farm, which was the only pathway to the King's Highway, or Bristol Pike (today's Frankford Ave).
Tacony's population at the time included only a handful of Protestant families; Wright, Titus, Green, Daniels, Miller, and Lukens. There were not a lot of prospects for a viable Sunday School, but a unified Sunday School to serve several Protestant denominations was ultimately formed by the three Bridesburg pioneers after petitioning public school authorities for a meeting place. In the Fall of 1858, Tacony's first Sunday School session was held in the original public schoolhouse near where the railroad crossed Knorr Street, known in the old days as Penn Street and Buttermilk Lane.
The Sunday School was a gratifying success for the twelve to fifteen scholars and teachers who made up the initial enterprise. By 1860, the attendance roster had expanded to over thirty-five. For the next decade or so, the school was affiliated with the Holmesburg M. E. Church and Bridesburg M. E. Church, since the Superintendent had moved from the area and no resident in Tacony could serve a leadership role. by 1870, the population of Tacony was growing, and residents Rebecca Fletcher, Hannah Mills, Mary Roberts, and Jane Lukens worked to secure scholars and enlist J. D. Ayres as Superintendent.
In February, 1871, the seeds of a new Methodist Church to complement the Sunday School were planted at the home of Robert J. Wright, in a property that would later be known as the Washington Hotel. Omar Kinsley returned as Superintendent in May of that year, and the school embraced an open acceptance policy and expanded both services and enrollment. Christmas of 1871 was especially memorable as the first holiday festivities were held, complete with a visit from Santa Claus.
In 1872, Henry Disston began to amass a nearly 400-acre plot of land, starting with Fitzwater's saw mill, and initiated the mammoth task of moving his entire factory to Tacony. The population of Tacony grew so rapidly that by February, 1873, a petition was signed to appoint Reverend David F. Unangst as the first pastor of Tacony M. E. Church. The following month marked his first appearance at the school, and attendance increased to the point that Bible classes were divided into young mens' and young ladies' sections.
The church and school setting was soon moved from the Wright home back to the somewhat cramped public schoolhouse, which had been moved West to Longshore Avenue and Tacony Street near the firehouse. Books which had been contributed were taken out for subscription for fundraising purposes with the intent of purchasing a lot to construct a permanent home for the church and school. A parcel was identified "out in the fields" of the newly acquired Disston property which would facilitate the construction of a frame chapel. For a sum of $500, this lot was purchased from Henry Disston, and during the Summer and Fall of 1873, the first Tacony M. E. Church and Sunday School building was constructed at a cost of about $1800.
The lot on which the building was erected measured 100' x 150' and was situated near where Edmund and Disston Streets intersect today. Sunday, November 16, 1873 marked the inaugural worship service at the metal-sided, one story building. Three services were held that day, with overflowing crowds at each assembling from Tacony, Holmesburg, Bridesburg, and Frankford. On the morning of the dedication, a debt of $1200 still existed from their construction and acquisition costs. Receipts collected from that day alone reduced this debt to about $500. Early church records credit the women of the congregation not only for their successful fund-raising efforts, but also for helping to dig the building's foundation with shovels and spades.
During the old days, lanterns were required to trek through the fields to the church and school, since no other buildings were visible West of the railroad except an old farmhouse near what today is the intersection of Disston and Ditman streets. Reverend Thomas Harrison and Reverend James F. Robinson followed Reverend Unangst as pastors during the congregations initial years of existence. The Sunday School became known for its "Grand Concert & Exhibition;" which featured verses, recitations, singing, and dialogue on topics like "why women should vote" and "the robber and the Quaker."
In 1876, Henry and Mary Disston lodged for the Summer in Tacony and were regular attendees at Tacony M. E. Church services since there was no Presbyterian congregation in Tacony at the time. This same year marked the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, where Disston was a major exhibitor who continued to move his factor in piecemeal fashion to the Tacony waterfront. Also in this year, Reverend A. F. Dotterer was appointed pastor. He was followed by Reverend F. H. Moore.
By 1880, Tacony's population was expanding rapidly. Henry Disston, having passed away two years earlier, left the estate planning to his wife, sons, and land agent Thomas W. South. South approached the Tacony M. E. Church congregation in 1880 because the layout of streets called for Edmund Street to run right through the existing church building. A similar size lot at Hegerman Street and Longshore Avenue was offered in exchange, and the congregation agreed to move the frame building to this location.
Over the next couple of years, hundreds of homes were built West of the railroad to accommodate the expanding Disston Saw Works. It soon became apparent that the frame chapel building would be too small to hold the growing congregation and Sunday School affiliated with Tacony M. E. Church. In 1882, Pastor Reverend Albert Mann, Jr. led the movement to erect a modern stone church on the site. Fundraising began in earnest and bids were solicited later that year. John Enoch, a Holmesburg contractor, was the lowest bidder at $9762.50 and was awarded the contract to build the new edifice.
On July 5, 1883, Pastor Mann began to preach at 7:30 p.m., marking the official dedication of the modern-day Tacony M. E. Church where services would be held regularly for over a century. Pastor Mann read from the Book of Revelation: "Behold I set before thee an open door and no man can shut it." By 1885, the congregation had reached 102, and as the area's population grew, within a couple more years would be approached to help with the formation of a Methodist congregation in adjacent Wissinoming.
The history of Tacony's Methodist congregation, like many in an evolving community, is marked with peaks and valleys. The first challenge came before the brownstone church had even been completed. Services had to prematurely take place in the new church building due to necessary repairs in the frame chapel. In 1886, services were held in an unheated, unfinished church building and attendance suffered as a result. So did the contributions relied upon in keeping up with some $1700 in annual expenses.
Despite a blizzard on December 17, 1887, the following day marked the rededication of the new edifice, featuring its 75-foot high tower with the frame chapel retained at the rear off Hegerman Street. Just nine years later, a wall of the church along Longshore Avenue was condemned and had to be reconstructed. Despite constant challenges, the congregation and Sunday School continued to grow and expand in scope with programs numbered nearly 500. By this time, the church had over 250 members with a Sunday School.
The decade before World War I through the decade after World War II marked the peak of the Church's involvement in the religious and social lives of Tacony's Methodists. For a time the church was known as the Henry Disston Methodist Episcopal Church, as evidenced by the inaugural issue of "The Tacony Methodist" a monthly newsletter dated June, 1912. Reverend Cornelius Hudson was pastor at the time, and was assisted by members Walter David, Harry Uhl, Robert Barclay, and James Cole in publishing the brochure, which was evidently paid for through advertisements from local businesses.
Reverend Hudson helped oversee the final expansion of the facility, removing the frame chapel in favor of constructing a brownstone Sunday School addition along the Hegerman Street side of the property. Considered one of the best-equipped church facilities in Northeast Philadelphia at the time, the addition was built in 1916 and featured a lower level social hall, two kitchens, a main auditorium, various classrooms, and a secretary's room. Two especially progressive features at the time, which drew a fair share of media attention, were the mother's room, where children could be cared for, as well as a baby carriage garage at the rear where coaches could be kept secure from the elements during services.
By 1919, the newsletter was titled "Tacony M. E. Review" and was edited and managed by Clayton Bickel and George Rowland, while Reverend John E. McVeigh was appointed pastor. Prominent members of Tacony involved with the church at this time included Albert Them, Alphonso Achuff, Walter L. Davis, John Swain, grover Walter S. Hayes, and plumber Isaacs Shreve. The Ladie's Aid Society was very active in fundraising and event planning for the congregation. An Easter postcard at the time featured a stunning array of flowers intermingled with American flags at the altar inside the church.
In 1925, the first pipe organ was installed and in 1927 the sanctuary was renovated on the first floor, having been turned around to accommodate greater seating capacity. Growth was slower through the Depression era, and fundraising efforts were not as brisk. A proposed budget from 1935-36 shows a modest expense statement totaling $6975 in total annual outlays, some $3000 of which was the pastor's salary. An "every member canvass" of homes was undertaken by the church to try and meet expenses through personal visits. The church was host to many groups, such as an Ushers Association, Home Mission Society, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Women's Society of Christian Services.
By the 1940s the monthly newsletter had been reduced to an annual program and roster which did not include any advertising. Reverend Richard Radcliffe and Reverend Walter S. Johnston oversaw most pastoral duty during this decade, each serving various terms. A program from 1947-48 shows the church near the peak of its enrollment with a 17-member Board of Directors, plus eleven honorary members, thirty-one stewards, and three trustees. Committees to represent the Church at Quarterly Methodist Conferences numbered fifteen, including committees on world peace, music and temperance. The church became involved with a "parish abroad" program supporting missionaries in China, Peru, and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The church continued to grow into the 1950s, peaking in membership around 1956, when records showed 455 members and 374 Sunday School students. Despite this growth, the aging stone building proved a constant drag on collection income, including the condemnation and reconstruction of the right wall of the sanctuary in the early 1950s. By 1961, signs of a slowly dwindling membership was reflected in the Annual Directory, which one again included local advertisements. The Board had been reduced to ten members and Committees reduced to seven.
Reverend Ralph E. Proud, in the 1964 Directory, acknowledged the struggle to retain members and the challenge that lay ahead
By the time plans were being made for the Centennial Celebration of 1973, the congregation, known by then as Tacony United Methodist Church, had witnessed the loss of a significant number of members who had either passed away or moved from the area. Families moving into the area were not as church-centered as those who arrived a century prior, and many joined the Catholic congregations. A modest banquet was held at Valle's Restaurant on November 4, 1973 in honor of the 100th anniversary of the church. Dr. Daniel Brodhead was pastor at the time, who oversaw a Centennial committee which included such long-time members as the Bushnell, Griffith, Hallman, Schempp, and Tolbert families."The church needs sufficient flexibility in program and activity to allow the congregation to continually change its direction to meet the demands and needs of the community... this does not mean we love Christ less, it means we love him enough to do something about his witness in the community which may be fresh and new, may even rob us of some of our old ideas, but it will serve well... there is work for everyone, of one form or another... I hope that Tacony in the near future will have an important place in the worldwide struggle to make the church of Christ relevant in today's society."
The congregation adopted the moniker "The Centennial Church," and this appeared on the inside cover of the weekly church bulletins through 1984. Despite a continually dwindling membership roster, the church continued to fill an important role in the community; hosting meetings for Girl Scouts, Center for Literacy, Odd Fellows Lodge, Youth Club, Tacony Task Force, and Bible School. The facility also hosted a daycare center and food closet for the needy. Pastor Cecile Wheeles personally moderated meetings of neighborhood organization members in an attempt to galvanize ideas which could help better the neighborhood.
No greater testament to the rapid reduction in membership and member involvement at Tacony United Methodist Church exists than the roster of weddings which took place beginning in 1906. From the roster's inception through 1919, one hundred and twenty-two weddings were performed at the church, followed by seventy-five during the 1920s and fifty-five in the 1930s. The period from 1940 to 1959 showed one hundred and thirty-four wedding ceremonies, followed by forty-five during the 1960s and forty-seven during the 1970s.
The congregation was, without a doubt, struggling to keep up with the aging building as membership continued to decline. The 1980s witnessed a total of twenty-four weddings at the church while the 1990s saw twenty-three. Difficult decisions faced the Church and lay leaders as the Millennium approached, when membership was no longer counted by the hundreds but by the dozen. The occasion of the Church's 125th Anniversary in 1998 featured a modest banquet highlighted by keynote speaker Louis A. Iatorola, President of the Historical Society of Tacony. This proved to be one of the last shining moments of a proud and storied church congregation.
By 2001, the unavoidable decision had been made to finally close the doors of the Church, based on the dim prospects of boosting membership in a rapidly changing urban environment. A total of five wedding ceremonies took place at the Church in the new Millennium, the final one was held on June 1, 2001, uniting Robert Francis George III and Jennifer Marie Rossmaier. It was presided over by the Church's last pastor, Reverence George Boone III. Subsequent to a Renewal of Vows ceremony on June 24, 2001, the final service was held at Tacony United Methodist Church. Not long after, church records and the building were turned over to the Methodist Conference.
The oldest continually occupied church structure in Tacony was summarily sold to a local investor at a discounted sum due to a drainage deficiency which required engineering and plumbing expertise. Since the sale, the Church has been occupied by a series of religious congregations assumed to be tenants, including the New Covenant Revival Ministries and Bethel Community Baptist Church.