The History of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Drakes Mills

A number of German Hanoverians settled in this community at an early date, but were not organized into a church by Pastor J.D. Nunnemacher until 1854. Charles Drake was deeply interested in these Germans, and gave them an acre and a half of ground for a nominal consideration. The cornerstone of a frame church was laid May 25, 1854, which was dedicated by Pastor Nunnemacher in October of the same year. Although repaired in 1874 and 1882, it has served as an acceptable place of worship to the present day. The church was incorporated February 12, 1867, under the name "St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Marvin’s Mills, Cambridge Township, Crawford County, PA." The Constitution was adopted May 30, 1867.

German and English were used in the public services until 1906, when the former was discontinued. From 1854 to 1867 the church was served by Ohio Synod pastors, and the election of a Pittsburgh Synod pastor, November 1, 1867, caused a serious dispute. A large majority favored uniting with the Pittsburgh synod, but the minority withdrew and organized a separate congregation, which met in the Unitarian Church of Cambridge Springs. Suit was then entered against the majority party for possession of the property, on the ground that the Pittsburgh Synod was not a true Lutheran body. The court decided in favor of the defendants in 1873. The minority congregation then disbanded, the greater part of them returning to St. Paul’s. At one time they attempted to return in a body, but this was not permitted. A number of the members of St. Paul’s later assisted in the organization of Grace Church of Cambridge Springs, but this effort also failed of success. The year 1949, the church was raised and a basement built. Beginning the second century. May 1, 1954, the congregation severed its ties with the McKean Parish and called a full time resident pastor. Two months later they constructed a two-story addition, both enlarging the church and furnishing it. Dedication was held October 10, 1954. The following week was the celebration of the 100^th Anniversary.

An addition to St. Paul’s began to be a reality on the night of October 9, 1974. On that night, we began to dig the basement. It was choir night, so members of the choir anxiously observed (in between songs, of course) as the excavating progressed. By November, the basement walls were laid, and by the time the snow came in January, the building was all under cover. The addition measured sixty feet in length by thirty-two feet in width. The next three years were spent finishing off the interior of the new building into a fellowship hall, two offices, and rest rooms, as well as remodeling the old basement of the church into eight Sunday School rooms, a choir room, and a kitchen. Dedication of the addition was held on May 28^th, 1978.