Turn left and head east on East Front Street. There are a few properties that are located on one of the side streets within a half-block of East Front.
139 East Front Street 14
This is the Bower Memorial United Methodist Church and Parsonage. This home was built in 1912 as a parsonage for the adjacent Bower Memorial United Methodist church. It was built with the same type of brick as the church and was patterned after a home in Red Lion, PA. A similar home owned by Dr. William Gearhart
is located on East Front Street. The cost of the construction in 1912 was $6000. Rev. E. Crombling and his family were the parsonage’s first occupants. The church started as a congregation that built a “meeting house” of Evangelicals. By 1873, membership had grown to such an extent that a church building was needed. That building was used for 33 years. Rev. H.W. Buck was the first pastor. After land was acquired at the present location, a more modern structure was erected for $48,000, with J.W. Thompson as pastor. It was named Bower Memorial United Evangelical Church in honor of Rev. Isaiah and Hannah Bower. This newer edifice boasted of a raised choir loft and a beautiful pipe organ. The building was dedicated in 1906. However, it was destroyed by a fire in 1916. A new, larger building was built and dedicated in 1919 at a cost of $82,000. Rev. C.I. Raffensperger was the pastor. The church boasts many large and small beautiful stained glass windows. A social hall, the annex, was built in 1926 next to the church on East Second Street.
106 Pine Street 15
The Biacchi Home was built in 1900 and is owned by Lou and Sandra Biacchi, who purchased it in 1971. Lou was a former mayor of Berwick. In 1887, this property was owned by Mordecai Jackson, co-founder of the Jackson & Woodin Manufacturing Company. In 1925, R. Emmet Eyerly, respected publisher of the Berwick
Enterprise for 35 years, resided in this home.
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