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Wonders of Historic Church of St. Peter revealed in monthly tours

By Frances Borsodi Zajac fzajac@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read
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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville is offering one public tour on the first weekend of each month through April, when it culminates the celebration of its 175th anniversary. Next tour is after the 4 p.m. Mass on Nov. 2.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville is offering one public tour on the first weekend of each month through April, when it culminates the celebration of its 175th anniversary. Next tour is after the 4 p.m. Mass on Nov. 2. Pictured is a view from the choir loft.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Norma Ryan, left, and Larry Franks III, served as guides for the October tour of the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville. The stained-glass window behind them depicts scenes in the life of St. Peter. The church is offering one tour on the first weekend of each month through April. Next tour is after the 4 p.m. Mass Nov. 2.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Larry Franks III, of Brownsville, shows Bree’Elle Oliver animals pictured in the lower right panel of a stained-glass window in the choir loft at the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville. The window depicts the first Mass in the area, celebrated in 1754 by the French on the site that would become this Roman Catholic church.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

This stained-glass window in the choir loft at the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville depicts the first Catholic Mass in the area, celebrated by the French in 1754 on a spot that would become this church. St. Peter is offering one public tour on the first weekend of each month through April. Next tour is after the 4 p.m. Mass on Nov. 2.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Frank Melega, the late artist whose work is displayed in a Brownsville museum, created this series of cross keys that hang in the Historic Church of St. Peter. The cross keys, a symbol of St. Peter, were Melega’s last commissioned work.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Daniel Bobo, of Brownsville, walks down this narrow set of stairs that leads to the choir loft at the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Larry Franks III, of Brownsville, shows the entrance to a crypt in the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville. Some believe the crypt is evidence the church, which will observe its 175th anniversary in April 2020, was built with the idea it would become a cathedral.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Trying out the hidden extensions that enlarge seating on the oak pews at the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville are (from front to back) La’Nea Brumley, Aaliyah Brumley and Bree’Elle Oliver. The extensions slide out and are still used on holidays.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

This archway along the altar at the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville is filled in but resembles an opening used in a similarly designed church in Europe where lepers would come to receive Holy Communion.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Larry Franks III, of Brownsville, walks by a pulpit at the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville that was built to the right of the altar instead of the left side as tradition. Some believe this is evidence the church, which will observe its 175th anniversary in April 2020, was built with the idea it would become a cathedral.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

This baptismal font at the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville was discarded when the base became broken but brought back when the Roman Catholic church was restored in the 1930s. Notice the difference in materials in the base.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

The Rev. Timothy Krauthaupt, pastor, serves Holy Communion during Mass at the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville. The Roman Catholic church is giving one public tour on the first weekend of each month through April, when it culminates the celebration of its 175th anniversary. Next tour is after the 4 p.m. Mass on Nov. 2.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

The graveyard surrounding the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville contains some very old tombstones and was once included in Ripley’s Believe It or Not for having heated graves. Before a furnace was installed in the church, heat from its now-closed school was brought to St. Peter through a pipe that caused snow on graves to melt.

The Rev. Timothy J. Kruthaupt stood in the center of the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville and looked up at the large, stained-glass window in the choir loft just before the start of the October tour of this historic structure.

“On first day of July in 1754, the French and Indians came down the Monongahela River from Fort Duquesne because they heard what took place at Jumonville,” said Kruthaupt, referring to the famous skirmish in present-day North Union Township that led to the start of the French and Indian War.

“On this exact spot, they celebrated the first Mass in this area,” said Kruthaupt, “and that stained glass window commemorates that Mass.”

The story is told on the tours – one held free the first weekend of each month through April at the church, located at 118 Church St. Rotating so they follow a different Mass each month, the tours are part of a yearlong observance of the church’s 175th anniversary that will culminate with a celebration in April.

Kruthaupt noted there was a Catholic church in Brownsville as early as 1795. The first two buildings – a wooden one followed by a brick structure – burned before the present Gothic-style building was constructed of hand-hewn stone by Irish stonemasons in 1845.

Tours point out the history as well as some mystery – clues indicating there may have been plans for St. Peter beyond a local church.

“They really felt because Brownsville was growing quite significantly in those days that this was going to be a cathedral,” said Norma Ryan, who led the October tour with fellow parishioner Larry Franks III, both of Brownsville.

For example, the pulpit is to the right of the altar instead of left, and there is a crypt under the church floor.

“There’s always been rumors about what’s down there,” said Franks, who opens the crypt during tours. “There’s nothing down there, but it’s still cool.”

Other intriguing features include a filled-in archway to the left of the altar that copies a similarly-designed European church where lepers would come to receive Communion. Hidden extensions built into the oak pews can be pulled into the center aisle for extra seating and are still used on holidays.

The church was in jeopardy in the 1930s when the Rev. Martin Brennan was sent to Brownsville to close it but, instead, led a restoration effort that included bringing back the original stone walls after they were plastered and a large, concrete baptismal font, discarded after the base broke.

“It was a humanitarian effort and a blessing for us,” said Ryan.

Other amazing features include a stained glass window over the altar that details the life of St. Peter and a series of cross keys, a symbol of St. Peter created by the late artist Frank Melega that are fixed at the top of the church walls.

Franks led the tour up narrow, winding steps to the choir loft for a spectacular view.

The church still has a bell, donated by James Hogg when the church was built. But – “Spoiler alert,” said Franks, “we use digital bells now.”

The guides also pointed out the surrounding graveyard and shared St. Peter was mentioned in Ripley’s Believe It or Not for being the only church in the country with a heated grave.

Franks explained until the church had a furnace installed in the 1970s, officials ran a pipe under the road to carry heat from the now-closed school.

“Even if there was snow on the ground, the graves beside the heat pipe had no snow on it,” said Franks. “So that was a heated grave.”

St. Peter’s next tour is after the 4 p.m. Mass Nov. 2.

With so much to see, it’s possible to learn something different every tour.

Ryan smiled to the guests: “We invite you to come back.”

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