St. Paul's Union Church or "The Old White Church" was erected in 1842 by Rintown Valley settlers. It is the oldest religious structure in Schuylkill County, located north of the Broad mountain. This unaltered "meeting house" style structure replaced an earlier log church built around 1810.
In the 1990's, a total restoration project was completed. The historic "Old White Church" is maintained by the Lutheran and the U.C.C. (Reformed) Churches of Ringtown. In April of 1995, the church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
History of the church - The cornerstone of this beautiful house of worship is inscribed with the date May 16, 1842. It is a simple wood frame building with clapboard exterior siding and wood shingled roof. The floors are constructed of wood plank, with walls constructed of lath and plaster. The unique wine glass pulpit, with sounding board and canopy top, is fastened to the wall about 10 feet from the floor and is reached by a narrow, winding stairway. Aisles exited from three doors and meet before the swinging gates of the rail-enclosed chancel area, thus dividing the straight-backed wooden bench pews into four sections
Two round, wood burning stoves were centered in the east and west aisles, their long pipes extending upward more than thirty feet, piercing the ceiling. Oil lamps were later installed in wall brackets attached to the columns, and one larger lamp was suspended from the ceiling above the chancel. The exterior of the building was painted white and soon the church became known as the White Church to locals.
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Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.