St. John's Church History

Between the years 1810 and 1840, services for Episcopalians in Marietta were held in the Old Zion's Church, now known as the Union Meeting House. Many denominations in Marietta worshipped here before building their own churches.

In 1849, the "little congregation in Marietta" was admitted into the Diocese of Pennsylvania as an organized parish and received its charter as such from the Lancaster County Court. For the first six years, St. John's shared a minister, The Rev. Dwight E. Lyman, with the neighboring Columbia congregation of St. Paul's. The congregation in Marietta met "in a room over a paint shop up an alley, fitted up as a beautiful chapel" by The Rev. Lyman.When the two congregations became too much for The Rev. Lyman, members of the Marietta Church worshiped in Columbia, making the journey back and forth by raft on the Susquehanna River.

A rift with the Columbia Church just after the assassination of President Lincoln led to the building of the church in Marietta.  The cornerstone was laid on May 2, 1866. On Easter Day, 1868, the first service was held in the church. The church bell was raised on April 24, 1874, and the pipe organ was purchased in 1907. A major interior facelift to the church was completed in 1925, a gift of Miss Maude Haldeman in memory of her mother. The Parish Hall was added in 1927, leaving the building pretty much in its present configuration. The church is a Gothic, one-story brick building with a raised basement.  It features round arched windows, a double-door entrance, and tracery tower, belfry and spire.

In 2005, the organ was renovated and improved by adding two ranks of pipes.  This was an Eagle Scout Project in 2005 done by James Carbaugh, the son of Bob Carbaugh, one of our current organists.