New Berlin in Union County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
First Printing House of the Evangelical Association
Photographed by Beverly Pfingsten, June 15, 2015
1. First Printing House of the Evangelical Association Marker
Inscription.
First Printing House of the Evangelical Association. . The first General Conference of the Evangelical Association, meeting in 1816 in the house of Martin Dreisbach of Buffalo Valley, Union County PA, authorized the establishment of a denominational printing house. The 1815 purchase of this lot in New Berlin, and the purchase of a printing press in Philadelphia by Presiding Elder John Dreisbach, laid the groundwork for such an undertaking. A smaller building was constructed beside the newly-erected meeting-house and operations began in October 1816. George Miller of Harrisburg was hired to be the printer, and Rev. Solomon Miller of Schuylkill County was elected to the office of publisher.
The first two volumes released by the printing house in 1817 were a revision of the denomination's Discipline (essentially a German version of the theologically similar Methodist Episcopal Church) and a new hymnbook Das Geistliche Saitenspiel (The Spiritual Psaltery). Within twenty years the operation had outgrown the original small building. A larger facility for the printing press, bindery operations and living quarters was purchased on the northeast corner of Market and Plum Streets. The publishing house of the Evangelical Association occupied that structure, now a private home, until the entire operation moved to Cleveland OH in 1854.
As compensation for losing the publishing house, New Berlin was named as the inaugural site for Union Seminary, the denomination's first permanent educational institution and the forerunner of Albright College. The second printing house building then served as a girls' dormitory from 1854 until it was sold in 1864.
The first General Conference of the Evangelical Association, meeting in 1816 in the house of Martin Dreisbach of Buffalo Valley, Union County PA, authorized the establishment of a denominational printing house. The 1815 purchase of this lot in New Berlin, and the purchase of a printing press in Philadelphia by Presiding Elder John Dreisbach, laid the groundwork for such an undertaking. A smaller building was constructed beside the newly-erected meeting-house and operations began in October 1816. George Miller of Harrisburg was hired to be the printer, and Rev. Solomon Miller of Schuylkill County was elected to the office of publisher.
The first two volumes released by the printing house in 1817 were a revision of the denomination's Discipline (essentially a German version of the theologically similar Methodist Episcopal Church) and a new hymnbook Das Geistliche Saitenspiel (The Spiritual Psaltery). Within twenty years the operation had outgrown the original small building. A larger facility for the printing press, bindery operations and living quarters was purchased on the northeast corner of Market and Plum Streets. The publishing house of the Evangelical Association occupied that structure, now a private home, until the entire operation moved to Cleveland OH in 1854.
As compensation for losing the publishing house, New Berlin was named as the inaugural site for Union Seminary, the denomination's first permanent educational institution and the forerunner of Albright College. The second printing house building then served as a girls' dormitory from 1854 until it was sold in 1864.
Location. 40° 52.585′ N, 76° 59.109′ W. Marker is in New Berlin, Pennsylvania, in Union County. It is on Water Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: New Berlin PA 17855, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna Valley. It is also in the American Northeast, in the Mid-Atlantic, in Appalachia, and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on June 16, 2015, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. This page has been viewed 568 times since then and 33 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on June 16, 2015, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland.
