I was surprised by how many churches rose up in the fairly condensed downtown area of Harrisburg. On two blocks of State Street alone, leading up to one of the most beautiful capitol buildings in the United States, four churches frame the street with a narrow meridian. And an easy walk around brought me to a dozen more. These are my favorites.

#1 Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Patrick

I stood in front of the granite Cathedral of St. Patrick, admiring its symmetry, the identical bell towers, the statue of St. Patrick above the entrance, and its commanding presence on Harrisburg’s historic State Street. But I had to walk a bit to one side to fully view the tall, gorgeous verdigris-green dome with bull’s-eye windows and a fine lantern. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, the cathedral combines Baroque and Renaissance Revival styles. Inside, granite columns support arches and a vaulted ceiling painted a soft blue. Above the arches, simple one-word tenets, such as “kindness” and “moderation,” reflect the philosophies of Catholicism. Wood pews and a black-and-white checkerboard floor advance toward the chancel, where images of the Four Evangelists occupy the spandrels of the columns behind the marble altar. Above me, the glorious rotunda features frescoes of the four Western fathers of the Church in the pendentives. Stations of the Cross in simulated bronze with gold highlights form four- or five-figure sculptural groups along the walls. Forty-four sumptuous stained-glass windows from Munich, Germany, depict key New Testament events, such as the Wedding at Cana, the raising of Lazarus, Palm Sunday, and the Last Supper. The Cathedral of St. Patrick took only three years to build, for a seemingly paltry $250,000. But that was in 1907, and, clearly, a quarter of a million dollars went much further then than it does today.

#2 Pine Street Presbyterian Church

In the late 1850s, the congregation at Market Square Presbyterian Church (see below) splintered into three. One became a Black-only congregation, and a second formed the Pine Street Presbyterian Church. Completed in 1860, the church didn’t take its final current form until 1926, when prolific architect Ralph Adams Cram, whose churches, libraries, and academic buildings can be found all across the United States, led a major expansion. That rework to the Gothic-style church raised the roof, creating a fantastic clerestory space in the vast interior with richly carved woodwork, exposed beams and rafters, arches and columns with striped patterns, and a fine collection of stained-glass windows. Outside, the limestone façade, multiple entrances, bell tower with its tapered spire, and trefoils and quatrefoils here and there mislead you into thinking you’re in a mid-sized British city rather than the capital of Pennsylvania.

 

 

#3 Market Square Presbyterian Church

A corner lot on a broad street makes it easy to appreciate the beauty of Market Square Presbyterian Church. A Gothic bell tower and Harrisburg’s tallest steeple soaring up to 193’ cap this Romanesque Revival church with exterior red brick and brownstone trim, completed in 1860. Inside, the all-white sanctuary features four Corinthian columns supporting arches over the altar area. Ten stained-glass windows—five on either side—and a red carpet provide the only pops of color. Make sure to look up at the fantastic organ configuration, with four keyboards and more than 4,600 pipes, installed only in 2022.

 

 

 

#4 Messiah Lutheran Church

This massive stone-faced church, originally called the Second English Evangelical Lutheran Church, had its humble beginnings as a mission Sunday school, way back in 1858. The school grew so rapidly that it soon needed a separate chapel. After a series of constructions and demolitions dictated by the growing needs of the congregation, this much grander church arose by 1890. Two sturdy towers of uneven heights frame the central part of the church. Lancet windows puncture the façade. A trio of red doors at the top of the front staircase grant access inside Massiah Lutheran Church, where you’ll find an organ from 1918, and, of particular note, a sorrowful post-Crucifixion mural, The Return From Calvary, by a Peruvian artist, depicting a handful of key Biblical figures under a dramatic sky with three now-empty crosses far off in the background.

#5 Zion Lutheran Church

The corner brick church with pistachio-green trim and a tall steeple is certainly eye-catching, but there’s more to Zion Lutheran Church than just some pretty architecture. The first church, built for a German congregation, was completed in 1815 and lasted only until 1838, when it was destroyed by a fire that started in an adjacent lumber mill. The mill is long gone, but the church was replaced by its second version, completed in 1839. It was constructed for a German congregation, and that history is still respected today, when, for instance, it offers an Ascension service in German. The church received some extensive renovations in 1867, when the steeple was relocated to the front of the building and a narthex and choir loft were added. Its stained-glass windows, including a particularly gentle Nativity scene, arrived later, between 1902 and 1927. The church has always been an active member of its times. During the Civil War, it served as a rest station for Union soldiers, and the pastor galvanized volunteers to build fortifications around the city. During the Vietnam War, it hosted four Vietnamese refugees, whose family members and descendants are still involved in the congregation. The church’s most notable historical claim came in December 1839, when the Whig Party held its presidential nominating convention here, as it was the only building large enough to host the meeting. At the time, Harrisburg was the smallest city to ever host a U.S. presidential convention, and the event clearly went well: The Whig Party was successful in carrying its nominees, William Henry Harrison for president and John Tyler for vice president, all the way to the White House.

Five Runners-Up

• St. Lawrence Catholic Church (1918)
• Grace United Methodist Church (1878)
• St. Michael’s Lutheran Church (1906)
• St. Stephen’s Episcopal Cathedral (1827)
• First Church of Christ Scientist (1927)

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