Augustus Lutheran Church

The Trappe area was settled in 1717 by Germans who worshipped informally or under itinerant preachers until the arrival of Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg in 1742. Their first church, which cost 200 pounds sterling, was designed by Mühlenberg. All of the interior fittings were fabricated from local materials, including the pulpit, which is made of American black walnut. The building is constructed of red sandstone (now faced with stucco); the east end of the building is formed into a three-sided apse. Above the south entrance is a date stone inscribed in Latin with the names of the church's founders, including Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, Frederick Marsteller, John Nicholas Cressman, Anthony Heilman (Hallman), Jacob Miller, Henry Haas, and George Kebner. The roof is framed with oak rafters and covered in cedar shingles. The cemetery at the rear of the building contains tombstones dating from 1736 and earlier, as well as the graves of Muhlenberg, his wife Anna Maria Weiser, and their daughter Mary Swaine and son General Peter Muhlenberg.Minardi, Lisa. Pastors & Patriots: The Muhlenberg Family of Pennsylvania (Collegeville, PA: Berman Museum of Art, 2011), p. 10-11.

Although the shell of the building was finished in 1743, the church was not consecrated until 1745. It was named after August Hermann Francke, founder of the Francke Foundations in Halle, Germany, a center of Lutheran Pietism where Henry Melchior Muhlenberg had trained. During the American Revolution, the building was used as a camping site and hospital for the Continental Army. A monument at the west end of the church commemorates unknown Revolutionary War soldiers buried in the cemetery.

By the mid-1800s, the congregation had outgrown the old building, and a new brick church was built. This structure was consecrated in 1852, whereupon the old building became used for Sunday School classes. A freak thunderstorm in 1860 severely damaged the roof; however, it was decided to restore the building rather than tear it down. A cast-iron stove was then added to the previously unheated building. Renovations in the 1920s restored the building to its original appearance. In the late 1950s, services were once again held in the Old Church in the summer and on Christmas Eve, a tradition which continues to the present day. A digital organ was placed in the original organ case in the early 1990s.

The church was declared a National Historic Landmark on December 24, 1967.{{Cite journal|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Augustus Lutheran Church|url={{NHLS url|id=67000019}} |format=pdf|date=August 30, 1974 |author=Patricia Heintzelman and Charles Snell |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url|id=67000019|title=Accompanying 3 National Park Service photos, exterior, from 1967.|photos=y}} {{small|(970 KB)}}

File:Augustuschurchplaque.JPG|Datestone in Latin

File:HMMuhlenberggrave.JPG|Grave of Henry M. Muhlenberg

Old Trappe Church Interior 1919.JPG|Pulpit in 1919

Augustuscemetery.JPG|Cemetery and church

• List of the oldest buildings in Pennsylvania
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

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{{Commons category|Augustus Lutheran Church}}

• {{Official|augustustrappe.org}}
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation, filed under 717 West Main Street, Trappe, Montgomery County, PA:
• {{HABS |survey=PA-175 |id=pa0635 |title=Old Trappe Church |photos=10 |supp=yes |link=no}}
• {{HABS |survey=PA-6023 |id=pa2976 |title=Augustus Lutheran Church |photos=17 |cap=1 |link=no}}

{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania}}

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Category:Cemeteries in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Category:Churches completed in 1743

Category:Churches in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Category:Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania

Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Pennsylvania

Category:Lutheran churches in Pennsylvania

Category:National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Category:1743 establishments in Pennsylvania

Category:18th-century Lutheran churches in the United States