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Bethany [Second] Presbyterian Church
Bridgeton, Cumberland County
The large window that takes up most of the tower gives this church a 20th century feel to it, so I was surprised when I learned it was built in 1840. It is clearly in the Gothic tradition, although it wasn't modeled after a particular English Gothic church as was the case for many of the Episcopal churches erected in the state after about 1846.
Christ Church in Easton, Maryland, built between 1840-1848, bears an exceptionally strong resemblance to Bethany; Christ Church was built from plans drawn by William Strickland, a Philadelphia architect, who also designed the strikingly similar St. John's Episcopal church in Salem. I have no doubt that Bethany Presbyterian was built from the same plans as St. John's; the church in Easton was the third one built from those plans.
The porch is a later addition, but the three-part door is original. There once was an ornate steeple, identical to the one on the church in Maryland. Strickland was an important American architect; he designed the Second Bank of the United States, in Philadelphia, which gave a real boost yo neoclassical, and especially the Greek Revival style.
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(c) 2001 Frank L. Greenagel
