{"nrhp_refnum":"82001531","name":"St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church, Parish House and Rectory","other_names":["St. Michael's Episcopal Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Mill and Church Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Birdsboro","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.265161447000025,"lon":-75.80698943799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-12-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of three brownstone buildings in Birdsboro, Berks County, Pennsylvania: St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church, a parish house and a rectory, built in phases from 1853 onward. The church was remodeled in 1885 by Furness and Evans of Philadelphia.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the group is an important set of buildings by Frank Furness, one of the most important high Victorian architects in Pennsylvania, and that it is largely intact. The church's original interior color scheme, including decorative stenciling and sponge and thorn motifs, is described as the only complete original color scheme from Furness's career. The buildings are also linked to the Brooke family and the local iron industry.","narrative":"Three brownstone buildings in Birdsboro, Berks County, form a church complex begun in 1853 with a simple gabled church by George Brooke. In 1878 a Gothic parish house of the same stone was added beside it, followed by a rectory. In 1885 the church was extensively remodeled by Philadelphia architects Furness and Evans, who added transepts, a chancel and a tower with belfry and spire, producing a cruciform building with lancet windows. Frank Furness was responsible for much of the 1885 design, including a wood porte cochere that was later removed. The church interior keeps its original color scheme of red, brown and silver walls, red trusses with gold borders and a blue ceiling, decorated with stenciling and with sponge and thorn patterns. The nomination regards this as the only complete original color scheme from Furness's career. The group is also linked to the Brooke family and the Birdsboro Iron Foundry.","period_of_significance":"1853-1885","architect_builder":"George Brooke (1853); Furness and Evans (1885)","architectural_style":"Gothic; high Episcopal style","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Church condition is described as excellent and unaltered in its interior decoration; the porte cochere was removed in the early 20th century.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.312858-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/82001531.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001531/6c135a624d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001531/6c135a624d-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Mike_Birdsboro.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Mike_Birdsboro.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994684","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael%27s_Episcopal_Church_(Birdsboro,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7590692"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/st-michaels-protestant-episcopal-church-parish-house-and-rectory-82001531/"}