{"nrhp_refnum":"75001633","name":"St. Severin's Old Log Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W of Cooper Settlement off PA 53","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cooper Settlement","county":"Clearfield County","state":"PA","lat":41.031698548000065,"lon":-78.11042242399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-06-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"St. Severin's Old Log Church is a one and one-half story square-hewn white pine log church with a gable roof and steeple, resting on a rock foundation, in the Cooper Settlement area of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. It was dedicated in 1851 by the Bishop of Pittsburgh.","why_significant":"The church was built by German Catholic settlers who arrived in the area during the 1840s and served as the parish church for the original congregation of thirty-five families. The form argues it is architecturally important as one of the few remaining early log structures in northcentral Pennsylvania. Its cemetery, containing graves of many original settlers, is also part of the property.","narrative":"Built of square-hewn white pine logs on a rock foundation, St. Severin's Old Log Church is a one and one-half story gable-roofed building measuring about forty by twenty-four feet, topped by an inset steeple with an octagonal roof. German Catholic settlers who had immigrated to the area during the 1840s raised it, and the Bishop of Pittsburgh, Michael O'Conner, dedicated it on September 2, 1851. The original parish comprised thirty-five families, and the church was named for St. Severin, the patron of the first family, Severin Nebel. Its dovetailed log walls, peaked sill corners and single large interior room with a loft reflect early log construction. The church served the congregation until about 1880, when a larger church was built nearby. The surviving log building is valued for its rarity, being among the few early log structures remaining in northcentral Pennsylvania. Adjacent ruins of a rectory and a cemetery, blessed in 1852, remain on the grounds.","period_of_significance":"1851","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Partially restored in 1967 with cement rechinking of log cracks; the stone center chimney was later removed, and a larger church was erected nearby around 1880.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.078699-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/75001633.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001633/f8d7b6d05f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001633/f8d7b6d05f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Severin%27s_Old_Log_Church_Apr_10.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog (talk)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Severin%27s_Old_Log_Church_Apr_10.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995146","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Severin%27s_Old_Log_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7591675"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/clearfield-county/st-severins-old-log-church-75001633/"}