Locust Street Methodist Church
Grace United Methodist Church

Locust Street Methodist Church. Library of Congress

While origins of the Methodist Church in Harrisburg date to 1810, a series of the church’s various locations in the early 19th Century resulted in it building its first church on the Southeast corner of N. Second and South Streets in 1820. In 1836 the church was officially constituted as the “Methodist Episcopal Church of Harrisburg, Maclaysburg and vicinity”. Maclaysburg was referenced as it was an unincorporated village just north of South Street which was annexed within the Borough of Harrisburg up to Herr Street in 1838. The church remained at N. Second and South until its growth in membership required a larger building. Accordingly, the church in 1837 acquired a building on the south side of Locust Street, between Court and N. Third Streets, that had earlier been erected by the Unitarian Church in 1826. The congregation remodeled the structure in 1852 and remained there during the Civil War and when two women from its membership were appointed in 1866 as members of the Board of Managers of the Home for the Friendless. Meanwhile, the South and Second Street building, that still exists but in altered form, was occupied by the Sons of Temperance and then in 1865 by the newly formed Ohev Sholom Temple, Harrisburg’s first synagogue, By 1870, the Methodist congregation on Locust Street outgrew its church, later demolished to make room for the first Federal Post Office and Court House, and plans were laid for the erection of a much larger and grander building on State Street, just steps away from then old State Capitol Building. With what became known as the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, the edifice was built between 1873 and 1878, with its majestic spire completed in 1888. Perhaps the church has been most widely known for its role in saving the Capital City from being moved from Harrisburg to Philadelphia when the old Capitol was destroyed by fire in 1897. Grace Church can be credited to have deterred this move by offering its sanctuary as a temporary meeting place for the Pennsylvania State Legislature until the new interim Capitol was constructed. The Church has been graced over the years with architectural elements, such as the stained-glass Tiffany Window to the rear of the sanctuary and Italian marble alter making it a distinguished architectural and historic landmark on one of Harrisburg’s most significant streets with a striking vista leading from Riverfront Park to the Capitol Building. Grace Methodist would later become the place of worship for noted Harrisburg conservationist and printer, J. Horace McFarland, who was a major leader in spearheading Harrisburg’s City beautiful Movement. Known for his cultivation of roses, many were transplanted in the Church’s rear garden after having been removed from the municipal rose garden in uptown Harrisburg. Further, the Church, now known as the Grace United Methodist Church, became the home of the Harrisburg Choral Society for many years with a beautiful sanctuary that has attached musical artists and performances.

Banner photo courtesy Jeb Stuart.