Advent Preservation Gallery
In 1986, the Advent Historical Society began a 4-year restoration of the church building, constructed of hand-hewn logs and sheathed with clapboards in the unadorned vernacular Greek revival style that was popular for meeting houses at the time.
Restoration of the Marsh Creek Advent church to its original 1849 appearance was based on architectural and photographic evidence.
Measured drawings were prepared by structural engineer Robert DuPuy Davis of Bellefonte. The original doors were rescued from the crawl space, restored, and rehung. The original nine-over-nine windows were restored and reglazed with old panes whenever possible. A bell-tower, porch and pulpit alcove, added in the 1940s were removed and the original sounding board was rebuilt following 1930’s photographs.
Later wallpaper, paint, linoleum, and pressboard ceiling were removed to reveal original interior surfaces. Paint analysis by Denson Groenendaal provided colors to match white-washed plaster walls, white-painted plank ceiling, and blue wainscoting.
As later paint layers were removed, the outline and placement of the original pews could be seen in the blue paint layer. A similar surviving pew from the Central Advent Church at Bush Hollow provided a template for reproduction pews made by Centre county Vocational Technical School students. The original plank floor was cleaned and sealed to maintain its original appearance.
During the restoration, iron objects found in an adjoining ash pit included a plate from one of the original stoves that heated the church, parts of an iron chandelier and brackets probably used to hold peg lamps
Original paneled doors were rescued from the crawl space below the church. Students from the local technical school used these doors as patterns for the shutters for the windows. The interior wainscoting, windows, and plank floor survived and were restored.
More than 2,000 volunteer hours of scraping, sanding, and painting contributed to the repair and reconstruction of the original structure. Support from the local business community provided donations of materials, and financial support from the many families affiliated with the Advent Church raised more than $40,000 to restore the historic building.
View the gallery below.
