THE CONSTRUCTION OF ST. ANDREWS
On June 8, 1906 work on the construction of St. Andrews began in earnest. John Gruver’s crew began digging the footers and the interior of the basement. You have to remember that in 1906 there were no backhoes and although some heavy equipment was in use at the time you would not find them in a small town. So the crew dug by hand, one shovel full at a time. If you have ever been in the basement of the church you would have noticed there is only what was needed to be dug out . In the library there are scrapbooks of the history of the church, there is a picture of the crew that did the building. I always found it interesting that John Gruver’s great great grandson, Tim Gruver, is now the person who takes care of our plumbing and heat and cooling equipment.
By July 10, 1906 stone had been laid up high enough for the cornerstone to be installed. The Rt. Rev. James Henry Darlington, Bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg, The Rev. Mr. Gable of Renova and the Rev. Mr. Collins participated in the ceremonies. The choir from Trinity Chambersburg also took part.
When it came time to lay the stone Bishop Darlington took a hammer and struck the stone three times, while saying. “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen” “I lay the cornerstone of an edifice to be here erected by the name of St. Andrew’s Church, to be devoted to the service of Almighty God, according to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Holy Catholic Church (commonly called the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.)
“Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, even Jesus Christ; who is God over all, blessed for evermore, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, Amen.”
As work progressed, more and more limestone was hauled in by wagon from a quarry close to Chambersburg. Each stone would have been cut and trimmed by hand using a two pound hammer and chisel. Then each stone would have been carried up a wooden ladder to where ever the mason would be working. I am sure that once they were working on the towers and got past the wall line that they would have used a pulley system to makes things a little easier. I have worked in the construction industry for over forty years on buildings much larger than our church and I cannot imagine how they did it without the power equipment we have now. Something I find interesting is that in the front tower the rooms get larger as they go up. This is because they used larger stones for the first floor and smaller stones as they went up. At each floor level the size of the stones change, this allows for a place for the floor joist to rest and makes the wall appear to go up straight. The bell tower room on the third floor is about four inches larger than the first floor room.
Work on the building continued for the next year, then on August 30, 1907 which would have been the date of the feast of St. Andrews, John Phillips could not wait any longer and the first service was held. The church was far from finished, scaffolding took up most of the interior space, and there were no pews or wood trim. Slate was still being put on the roof and the walls were just beginning to be plastered. So the service was held in what we now know as the sacristy. Rev. Collins led the service and it was reported that four families attended. It would be another eight months before another service was held here.