SANATOGA UNION SUNDAY SCHOOL

The Sanatoga Union Sunday School is significant under Criterion A for its Social History and Criterion C for its architecture during the period 1891 through 1954. In addition, the Sanatoga Union Sunday School meets Criteria Consideration A for religious properties. The Sanatoga Union Sunday School contributes to a small, but important component of the religious, social, and architectural heritage of Montgomery County – the Union Sunday School. The Sunday school movement was a significant religious transformation in the Baptist, Lutheran and Reformed congregations during the mid-nineteen hundreds. It was later manifested in the construction of small Sunday school buildings in the north and westen part of Montgomery County (and other Southeastern Pennsylvania counties) during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Like the dozens of village chapels erected across Southeastern Pennsylvania during the last three decades of the nineteenth century, the Sanatoga Union Sunday School was designed to provide a place for citizens of all ages and religious affiliations (hence the “Union” designation) to gather regularly for Bible study, spiritual admonishment, worship and friendship. These buildings were integral to the small town character and communal function of the communities in which they exist.

The building remains to tell the story of an important religious and community event that occurred during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in small towns throughout both the Commonwealth and the northern Montgomery County region. The gathering of the community’s children for worship and social events was an important activity in the pre-television age. The resource is also significant under Criterion C for its architecture. The Sanatoga Union Sunday School is an excellent example of a Gable-End Church plan with vernacular one-room schoolhouse elements. It represents these elements through its massing, scale, and design. The Sanatoga Union Sunday School retains all seven aspects of integrity, including location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. Not only is the exterior in excellent condition, the interior remains true to its early form. Furthermore, the Sanatoga Union Sunday School retains many of its original interior features such as wooden benches and children’s chairs.

In 1991, the building was donated to the Lower Pottsgrove Historical Society, who has been entrusted in preserving the building for future generations. The Historical Society currently uses the building as its meeting place, records facility, and display center. It also opens the building to the public on several occasions throughout the year for community fundraising events.

 

"PRESERVING OUR HERITAGE"