Published Monday, Sept. 28, 1998
Enter the Sharpsville Area Historical Society, which was formed a few years ago and needs a headquarters, and Sharpsville borough, which wants to preserve a large piece of town history.
Council at its Sept. 8 work session gave Borough Manager Michael Wilson permission to meet with church officials about the borough buying the church.
He and Pastor John Peters met recently but nothing has been settled and may not be anytime soon, especially since the congregation -- which began in 1918 on New Castle Avenue in Sharon -- continues to look for suitable property in the Shenango Valley.
Mr. Peters, pastor since 1996, said the 53 members require a larger parking area and a better kitchen. Member Marian Takoch added that older members would appreciate a newer building's accessibility since steps to the church's basement and bell tower are steep.
"We'd like a little more room,'' the 20-year member and Hermitage resident said. "But I will miss this very much. A lot of people when they come into this church are enthralled by it.''
The 116-year-old church, which was one of the stops on the historical society's tour in December, features pressed brick with stone trimmings and original and restored stained- glass windows. It can seat 150.
Mrs. Takoch remembers hearing about how two of the first members, Marjorie Stambaugh and Lillian Stewart, carried basement dirt out by buckets and then carried in buckets of concrete.
Formerly known as the First Universalist Church, it was built as the family's chapel near the Pierce mansion as the family's chapel and it stood where Sharpsville Gardens is. Reportedly a tunnel once led to it. James "The General'' Pierce pioneered the use of Lake Superior ores for Shenango and Mahoning Valley blast furnaces.
Chloe Pierce placed a pipe organ in the church as a memorial to her sister. The custom-built instrument is dated 1884-86 and is part of the deal. It was originally hand pumped but long since was converted to electricity.
Frank Stearns, music director of Mercer County Historical Society's Chamber Players, plays the instrument, built in Baltimore by the Pomplitz Co., a couple of Saturdays a month for the congregation. Stearns first played the organ about 20 years ago at the request of one of his students who was getting married there. It is also played by Jabulane Ndhlovu, an African missionary attending school in Beaver Falls, Pa.
After about 22 years without any services, the church was sold by the Universalist Conference in 1944 to the Seventh-day Adventists. Soldiers stationed at Camp Reynolds during World War II ate weekly at the church.
In 1982 the church celebrated its 100th anniversary with a visit from former first lady Barbara Bush, the great-granddaughter of Pierce.
ERA Johnson Realtor Walter B. Johnson has had several inquiries about the church since it went on the market in March. The asking price of the structure, which sits in a residential zone on North Mercer Street, is $95,000.
Johnson has sold other churches in his career, notably one in Mercer. "It's a different type of sale,'' he said from his Mercer office. "You're usually dealing with start-up churches.''
Sharpsville Mayor Kenneth Robertson, a local historical society board member, would like to see the borough and/or the society preserve the church, which could also be used for community functions and as a storehouse for historical items.
"I'd like to see something similar to what Hermitage has done with the Stewart House. The church contains a lot of history. We will explore every option.''
