Historic St. George’s Museum and Archives is connected to the oldest Methodist church in continuous service in America. Established in 1769, the Methodists have a rich history intertwined with America. Alongside American history, the Methodist denomination has experienced the struggle for independence from the Methodist church in Europe, separated over the issue of slavery, confronted many moral issues that plagued the nation, and re-united to become the United Methodist Church. 

On November 24, 1769, Joseph Pilmore gave the first sermon in the building. He reminded individuals who attended his service to “Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug”. Our museum follows Pilmore’s advice to remember where we came from and strives to educate people of both the positive and negative aspects of our history, in hopes of learning from our past mistakes to strive for a better future. Check out the exhibits tab to view upcoming exhibits!

Historic St. George’s is the archival repository for closed churches in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the UMC. We have records from over a hundred churches, as well as extensive records of the early years of HSG.

Our collection also includes many journals, letters and ephemera related to the early development of Methodism in America.

Due to renovations, we are not accepting research requests. Please check back later, or reach out to taylor@historicstgeorges.org.

The Historic St. George’s Preservation Society was established in 2013 to preserve, restore, and maintain Historic St. George’s United Methodist Church’s buildings, collections, and grounds and to perpetuate the interpretation of its unique place in American history.

Beginning in 2007, Historic St. George’s engaged noted preservation specialists John Milner Architects, along with engineers and historical advisors, to create a Master Architectural Plan that would identify and prioritize architectural, structural and remediation work as well as important safety upgrades. In 2014, John Milner Architects was engaged to study the negative impact of water intrusion on the church complex.

Over the past few years, we have completed certain property improvements that could not wait including: attic roof truss reinforcement; safety and security upgrades; boiler and chimney upgrade; and selective lead-based paint and mold remediation. With a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, contributions from individuals, and an allocation from reserve funds, we have invested more than $300,000 to rectify a number of issues identified in the Master Architectural Plan. In 2017, we completed necessary structural work to save the south wall of the Sanctuary building, which has suffered damage from its proximity to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge some 14 feet away.