Historic Structure Report, Part I for The Dunkard Church
Lagemann RL. 1960. Historic Structure Report, Part I for The Dunkard Church. Historic Structure Report. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Antietam National Battlefield
This report contains the administrative and historical data for the Dunkard Church at Antietam National Battlefield. The proposed rebuilding of the structure was to be done by the State of Maryland rather than through the Mission 66 Program, so the report was intended to help those who were involved in the reconstruction. It was suggested that artifacts of the original building fabric, owned by a private citizen at the time of the report, be used in the reconstruction rather than building duplicates. The administrative data includes recommendations specific to the the participating organizations and cost estimates. The historical data includes details on land ownership, church construction, and architecture. Construction began in 1852, with labor supplied by members of the church. The members of the Church of the Brethren were descendants of German settlers. They were capable handcraftsmen and builders, farmers, and shared experience in building each other's barns and houses. Small repairs were made after the Civil War, and there is no evidence of other changes until the church's destruction by a storm in 1921. The site was acquired by the National Park Service in 1952. Elmer Boyer purchased the wrecked building in 1924 and was able to salvage materials from the building such as building bricks, wooden shingles, rafters, flooring, door frames and a door, church benches, and some miscellaneous pieces of finished lumber. He had been saving them in the hope that they might be used if the church was restored. The report also documents use of the Dunkard Church as a house of worship and its role in the Civil War, accompanied by photos.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Lagemann, Robert
- Date of Issue
- 1960-05-25
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- ANTI , NCR
- Keywords
- artillery damage, battle, church, Church of the Brethren, Civil War, congregation, Dunker, Elmer G. Boyer, German, Maryland, Maryland Centennial, memorial, original furnishing, partnership, reconstruction, religion, salvage, The Sharpsburg Rifles
- Subjects
- CRIS-HS: 000027: Dunker Church