Union Seminary, New Berlin Pa. Constructed in 1855, the building was torn down in 1944.
Union Seminary, the first educational institution of the Evangelical Association operated for 50 years in New Berlin Pa. It was renamed the Central Pennsylvania College in 1887, and in 1902, merged with Albright College at Meyerstown. From 1904-1911 a new Union Seminary school operated on the site, this one being non denominational and not affiliated with the Evangelical Association. In 1919 a Silk mill, billed as a "Silk Throwing School" operated in the building. The building suffered a partial collapse in 1943, and was dynomited in 1944.
Union Seminary was the first permanent educational institution of the. Evangelical Association. The new building on the north end of New Berlin was completed in 1855. It was a three-story brick building with basement, and it contained classrooms, library, laboratories, society rooms, and dormitory rooms. At a later point, it added a mansard roof, giving a fourth story.
The school officially opened on January 3 1856. It was named for the county it was located in.
Rev. Wilehelm Orwig, Founder of Union Seminary
Rev Wilhelm W. Orwig , who was assisted by Rev. Charles Koch and Simon Wolf, founded the school.
The chapel could hold 350 persons, and was nearly filled to capacity on opening day in the winter of 1856. Students were expected to attend chapel 10 minutes before classes, and spend 10 minutes after classes in personal devotions. On Sundays, students were expected to attend one of the churches in town.
The majority of the primary school students came from New Berlin. The secondary school was attended primarily by students from Union, Snyder and Northumberland counties, but students came from as far as Illinois, Indiana, and California.
At the time, there was no railroad serving New Berlin. Students would travel to Lewisburg or Northumberland by train, then take a stage coach to New Berlin. When the railroad came to Winfield in 1883, the stage coach ride from there to New Berlin was 8 miles.
Classes were held from 9-5, with a 90 minute lunch break at noon.
The Union Seminary Charter allowed for only young women to graduate, earning a diploma after three years of study.The girls could choose from two of the four languages: German, French, Latin, or Greek. Science options included botany, astronomy, geology, and chemistry.
The boys studies were considered college preparation, and they were expected to go on to college from the Seminary school. The boys could play football or baseball on the schools athletic field.
In 1857, a "Normal Class" was added. The course was specifically to train students to become teachers.
In 1863, during the civil war, the school closed for two years. It opened again in August of 1865, after the end of the war.
“The most pressing problem was to secure a charter for the school….Union Seminary had been operating without official state certification from the time it was reopened after its suspension during the last two years of the Civil War.” The schools charter was not restored until 1880.
For the 1872-1873 School year, the cost of tuition, room, and board was $44, roughly the equivalent of $955 today.
In 1879, Dr Aaron Gobble came to New Berlin to serve as the schools principal. He instituted a new two year theological course, with which graduates could obtain a license to preach. Gobble lobbied to make the seminary of "collegiate status", on par with Susquehanna and Bucknell universities. On June 19 1887, the school was issued a charter under the new name of The Central Pennsylvania College.
1898 advertisement for CPC in the Philadelphia Inquirer notes the healthful climate, the beautiful location, the moderate expenses and the four courses of study. An accompanying article states that the school provides a unique opportunity for those “who have not had the full preparation,” especially “young men from the farms and workshops” In another article in 1898, the Inquirer calls CPC a "minor college," but praises it for its low expenses--less than $150 per year-- and its lower entrance requirements: “three books of Caesar, two of Virgil, Latin grammar, Greek grammar and the Anabasis, elementary Algebra and two books of geometry.”
The Central Pennsylvania College merged with Albright college in Myerstown in 1902, closing it's New Berlin facility.
From 1904-1911 a new Union Seminary existed on the same site as the old seminary. The new school had no ties to the Evangelical church and was non denominational.
The building then stood empty until 1919 when it housed a silk mill—called a “silk throwing school” to get around the deeded provision that it be used only for educational purposes.
After again standing empty for a number of years, the building suffered a partial collapse in 1943 and was dynamited in 1944. A public school stands on the grounds today.
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"A plot of land (66 x 136 feet) had been purchased in 1815 in New Berlin for a church building and the Publishing House. John Dreisbach (1789-1871), the first Presiding Elder of the denomination, had bought the printing press and other equipment with his own money, and all that was needed was the building.
The first church erected by the denomination was built on the same lot as the Publishing House. It was a one-story log building, 34 x 38 feet. The church and the Publishing House were dedicated on March 1-2, 1817.
John Dreisbach recorded the day's events in his journal: "Saturday, March 1, 1817: The Publishing House was built by the side of the church and the dedicatory services began in the evening when J. Stambach preached from Matt.26:41. After him I preached from Acts 3:19, and it went quite well for me."
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