Old Hartslog Church

Old Hartslog church

Old Hartslog meetinghouse

Some time in the years before 1785 the first mention of a religious group called Hartslog Presbyterian Congregation was formed. A log worship house stood upon the hill one mile north of the present site of the town of Alexandria, Pennsylvania, where a burial ground was later made. This was a primitive structure, without floor, and split log benches for the worshipers, and without heating facilities. By 1787 a floor was laid, six large windows set in, a large door constructed, and a pulpit and a communion table made. In 1794 it was laid off into four sections, and fitted with pews; which were rented. Each section was 120 square feet, from which we judge that the building was not more than 40 feet square. In this year, 1826, the old Hartslog congregation moved to a brick building, referred to by Senator John Scott in his memoirs as the "Brick Church", which seems to have been located near to the site of the present Reformed Church. The old Log Worship House was taken down the same year, and some of its logs were used in one or two of the dwellings of Alexandria, Pennsylvania.