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Packer Memorial Chapel | |
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Location | Packer Avenue, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
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Coordinates | 40°36′27″N75°22′41″W / 40.60750°N 75.37806°W |
Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
Built | 1885 |
Architect | Addison Hutton |
Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 79003234 [1] |
Added to NRHP | November 20, 1979 |
Packer Memorial Chapel, also known as Packer Memorial Church, is a historic church on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States.
Packer Memorial Chapel was designed by Philadelphia architect Addison Hutton, and built in 1885 when the university was affiliated with the Episcopal Church. It was donated by Mary Packer Cummings in memory of her father, Asa Packer. The cornerstone was laid on "the seventh Founder's Day, October 8, 1885" and the consecration took place "Two years later, on the ninth Founder's Day, October 13, 1887". [2] The chapel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. [3] Asa Packer was buried in Mauch Chunk Cemetery in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, where his mansion was located. [4]
Currently non-denominational, the chapel is operated by the Office of the University Chaplain. [5] On Sundays, Roman Catholic mass is usually held at 12:10 pm and 9:10 pm in the chapel. On Fridays, Muslim prayers are held at 1:10 pm. The Church is also available for weddings in which at least one of the parties is a Lehigh University student or alumnus. It was also formerly the location of the freshman convocation, held during orientation at the beginning of each school year; however due to growing class size, convocations were moved to the larger Baker Auditorium in the Zoellner Arts Center, beginning in 2007.[ citation needed ]
"The Catacombs", was named on February 1, 1969 for a coffee house in the basement of the church. It soon became disused and was later a social meeting place for graduate student.[ citation needed ]
Asa Packer was buried in Mauch Chunk Cemetery, Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, where his mansion was located.[ citation needed ]
Carbon County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,749. The county is part of the Northeast Pennsylvania region of the state.
Jim Thorpe is a borough and the county seat of Carbon County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is historically known as the burial site of Native American sports legend Jim Thorpe.
Asa Packer was an American businessman who pioneered railroad construction, was active in Pennsylvania politics, and founded Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was a conservative and religious man who reflected the image of the typical Connecticut Yankee. He served two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1853 to 1857.
Samuel Sloan was a Philadelphia-based architect and best-selling author of architecture books in the mid-19th century. He specialized in Italianate villas and country houses, churches, and institutional buildings. His most famous building—the octagonal mansion "Longwood" in Natchez, Mississippi—is unfinished; construction was abandoned during the American Civil War.
Robert Klotz was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
The Lehigh Canal is a navigable canal that begins at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in the Lehigh Valley and Northeastern regions of Pennsylvania. It was built in two sections over a span of 20 years beginning in 1818. The lower section spanned the distance between Easton and present-day Jim Thorpe. In Easton, the canal met the Pennsylvania Canal's Delaware Division and Morris Canals, which allowed anthracite coal and other goods to be transported further up the U.S. East Coast. At its greatest extent, the Lehigh Canal was 72 miles (116 km) long.
Lehigh Gorge State Park is a 4,548 acres (1,841 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Luzerne and Carbon Counties, Pennsylvania. The park encompasses a gorge, which stretches along the Lehigh River from a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control dam in Luzerne County to Jim Thorpe in Carbon County.
The Asa Packer Mansion is a historic house museum on Packer Road in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, United States. Completed in 1861, it was the home of Asa Packer (1805–1879), a coal and railroad magnate, philanthropist, and founder of Lehigh University. Asa Packer was also a major contributor in the Lehigh Valley Railroad system. The mansion is one of the best preserved Italianate Villa homes in the United States, with original Victorian furnishings and finishes. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985.
The Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, also known as the Mauch Chunk and Summit Railroad and occasionally shortened to Mauch Chunk Railway, was a coal-hauling railroad in the mountains of Pennsylvania that was built in 1827 and operated until 1932. It was the second gravity railway constructed in the United States, which was used by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company to transport coal from Summit Hill downhill to the Lehigh canal.
St. Mark's Episcopal Church, now the Episcopal Parish of St. Mark and St. John, is a historic Episcopal church at 21 Race Street in Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Completed in 1869, it is a prominent example of Gothic Revival architecture designed by that style's leading proponent, Richard Upjohn. It is one of Upjohn's last designs, and was funded by the congregation, which contained eight millionaires whose fortunes were made in the coal fields and railroad industry. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
Addison Hutton (1834–1916) was a Philadelphia architect who designed prominent residences in Philadelphia and its suburbs, plus courthouses, hospitals, and libraries, including the Ridgway Library, now Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. He made major additions to the campuses of Westtown School, George School, Swarthmore College, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, and Lehigh University.
The Central Railroad of New Jersey Station, also known as the Jersey Central Station and Jim Thorpe Station, is a historic railroad station located at Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It was designed by Wilson Brothers & Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and built in 1888 by the Central Railroad of New Jersey. It is a 1+1⁄2-story, five-bay, red brick building in the Queen Anne style. It features a 3+1⁄2-story, cylindrical corner tower with a cylindrical roof. It is owned by the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway and served as a visitor center. The station was one of two serving the community; the Lehigh Valley Railroad had a station on the opposite side of the river.
The Old Mauch Chunk Historic District is a national historic district located in Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, Pennsylvania.
The Harry Packer Mansion, is a historic home which is located in Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, Pennsylvania.
Robert Heysham Sayre was vice president and chief engineer of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. He was also vice president and general manager of Bethlehem Iron Company, the corporate precursor to Bethlehem Steel. The borough of Sayre, Pennsylvania and the small city of Sayre, Oklahoma were named in his honor.
Asa Lansford Foster was a Pennsylvanian geologist, merchant, and coal mine owner. He was also a geologist, mining engineer, and publisher and was one of the pioneers of the anthracite industry. He was a native of Massachusetts but immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1818. Foster married Louisa Trott Chapman.
East Mauch Chunk is a former independent borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located along the east bank of the Lehigh River on the opposite bank from the town business district, it was part of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Allentown was a train station in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was opened by the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1890 and closed in 1961. The building was demolished in 1972. The station was located one block west of the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Allentown station.
Packer House may refer to: