Neiltown Church, Forest County, PA

This is the old Neiltown Church--or Neilltown, which seems to be the preferred local spelling.  It was built in 1843 by the Neill family, who were local property-owners.  The little hamlet of Neiltown (or Neilltown) consists of about 10 or 12 houses just inside the western boundary of Forest County.  It hasn't had a regular congregation in many years.

Religious services were held in the area as early as the 1790s, but the Neiltown congregation got its official start in 1822 as Concord Presbyterian Church.  About 100 years later, the church sank into decline.  I'm not sure when it closed up shop, but I do know that it was just an empty building by 1970.  These photos were all taken by pressing my iPhone 8 up against the windows from the outside.  

Here's the narthex which--like far too many narthexes in this world--doubles as a storage closet!  And how do I know that the congregation had disbanded by 1970?  Well, it's like this: About 20 years ago, I was ordained by the local "Lake Erie Presbytery," which encompasses this area--and which is like a diocese.  When I was ordained, I was given a book about all of that denomination's congregations in this area, with histories and photos of their buildings.  The book was dated 1970, and the Neiltown Church was not in it.  Which is to say that the congregation had gone out of existence before that year.

It's got a simple, elegant interior.  I believe that's probably a piano under the white sheet in the foreground.  In 2004, the Oil Region Alliance bought the building in order to preserve it, and it's now a venue for summer concerts and memorial services.  They tried to have two or three interdenominational services a year inside the church, but that no longer happens. The church has a Facebook page with 105 followers--including yours truly.  The page hasn't been updated in a year or two, but it does indeed show photos of musical concerts inside the building.

There are so many beautiful and historic rural churches up here, and many of them Presbyterian.  Neiltown is one of the least interesting, frankly.  But it is a unique and peaceful place, surrounded by a cemetery.

You can also rent the church for events.