Touring the Christ Church Steeple

I love old churches and ancient graveyards. When I moved to Philadelphia last summer, I got to be close to one that is both: Christ Church in old city. I have loved this church for many years. Christ Church originally sparked my imagination when I was a visitor walking by, after I had moved to the U.S. from Canada. The old bricks, centuries-old headstones, and wrought iron gates just whisper to you of another time, of peace and intrigue both. I didn't know it then, but the gate is still stamped with the original builder's name, and the year 1795. Then, while researching Elizabeth Graeme, I discovered that it had been her church for all of her life. Her father, physician Thomas Graeme, rented a pew there for the Graeme family for decades. Elizabeth is buried just outside the door to enter the church, and I still feel sad about the plaintive words on her gravestone. Elizabeth would be waiting a long time "with resignation and humble hope for reunion with her friend in a more perfect state of existence." Her petulant loyalist husband wasn't coming back, but Elizabeth still loved him. She deserved better. My fascination with Christ Church deepened when I learned that Betsy Ross left her Quaker meeting house to worship there with her new Anglican husband, John Ross. She sat kitty-corner from George Washington when he was in town and attended services there. Of course he would ask her to sew the first flag; he already knew her and liked the work she and John did for beds at Mount Vernon. Christ Church has the distinction of being at the center of Philadelphia's revolutionary and colonial history. Seven signers of the declaration of independence lie in its burial grounds, not to mention the constitution signers, and of course iconic Ben Franklin has rested at the corner of Arch Street and Fifth Street for 235 years. For more than fifty years, Christ Church's steeple was the tallest building in North America. I often gaze up at the weathervane and wonder at the long-ago world that saw its height as magnificent. (Did you know they swapped the crown for a bishop's mitre after the revolution?) When I saw this week that I could take a steeple tour at Christ Church, I jumped. Director of Preservation and Education Matthew Havens graciously showed me the organ chamber level of the steeple (so cool!) before taking me across to the Neighborhood House for a great view. I really appreciated Matthew's depth of knowledge and patience for my questions. Ask him anything and he can easily help you with three hundred years of history at the church. I won't spill all the tea. I encourage you to take the tour yourself if you can, and support the church so future preservation can take place. I will say that I was surprised at the entrance to the steeple. It's a charming combination of old and new, wobbly and modern, solid and frail. If you love old Philadelphia and colonial history, there's nothing better.