WAYBACK WEDNESDAY

Towamencin History: The Kulpsville Methodist Episcopal Church and its forgotten cemetery

A daily feature from our surrounding historical societies.

Brian Hagey | Towamencin History | October 2, 2024

Date stone from the former church. Credit: Towamencin History.

A daily feature from our surrounding historical societies.

In 1862, the Kulpsville Methodist Episcopal Church was built in the village of Kulpsville.

Rev. William M. Ridgway and Rev. Gordon, Episcopal preachers on the Perkiomen circuit, were involved in the formation of the new church. Prior to 1862, worshippers met in the town hall.

A 1910 Postcard of the Methodist Episcopal church in Kulpsville along Franklin Street near the present day EXTRA SPACE STORAGE units. The cemetery is behind the Holiday Inn. Postcard by John Bartholomew Photographer of Lansdale.
A building lot for the sanctuary was donated by Kulpsville resident W. R. Bechtel, whereupon the brick church was erected. The church was located along present-day Franklin Street, near to the rear parking lot of the present-day Holiday Inn. At one time, there were nearly 160 members. The congregation died out in the first years of the 20th Century.

The old church was eventually renovated and served as a parsonage for the Reformed congregation’s minister, whose sanctuary was a mile west on Sumneytown Pike. The little, old, and almost forgotten cemetery behind the Holiday Inn remains a quiet witness to the extinct congregation.

Follow Towamencin History on Facebook. and visit Morgan Log House & Historical Research Center for resources on the history of Towamencin.