{"nrhp_refnum":"82003800","name":"St. Paul's Episcopal Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Old York and Ashbourne Rds.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Elkins Park","county":"Montgomery County","state":"PA","lat":40.07132831000007,"lon":-75.13272099199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Economics","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"St. Paul's Episcopal Church is a Gothic-style stone church in Elkins Park, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, consecrated in 1861 and enlarged several times, with a parish house, rectory, stable, cemetery, mausoleum and auditorium building on the grounds.","why_significant":"The church was founded through the efforts of banker Jay Cooke, whose wartime bond sales are described in the nomination. Its present appearance is largely the work of architect Horace Trumbauer, who altered and added to it several times, and it contains stained glass from Tiffany Studios given by wealthy parishioners. The nomination presents it as one of the loveliest English-style country churches in America.","narrative":"Set on Old York Road in Elkins Park, St. Paul's Episcopal Church is a Gothic-style church of local gray stone with a slate roof, consecrated in 1861. Banker Jay Cooke, who financed Union government bonds during the Civil War, began a Bible class in his home in 1858 and founded the church. It was doubled in size in 1868 and gained a tower in 1870, and a transept was added in 1883. Architect Horace Trumbauer worked on the building six times between 1897 and 1924, including the 1912 remodeling that P.A.B. Widener commissioned in memory of his son and grandson lost on the Titanic. Interior features include a hammerbeam ceiling, Tiffany Studios stained glass, and a carved stone altar. The grounds hold Cooke's marble mausoleum, a cemetery laid out in 1879, a rectory built in 1868, and the 1906 Jay Cooke Memorial auditorium. The church is significant for its association with Cooke and the wealthy families of Elkins Park, and for its architecture.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Horace Trumbauer (architect)","architectural_style":"Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Original site retained; the document marks the building as altered.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.866433-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/82003800.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003800/bafd556425-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003800/bafd556425-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Pauls_Elkins_Park_PA.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_Pauls_Elkins_Park_PA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995435","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul%27s_Episcopal_Church_(Elkins_Park,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7591100"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/montgomery-county/st-pauls-episcopal-church-82003800/"}