Old Drawyers Presbyterian Church and Cemetery

 church, cemetery, place with historical importance

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The history of this congregation may be traced to the 1670s, when Dutch and Swedish members of the “Reformed Church” were gathering locally for worship. By the first decade of the 18th century the settlement of persons largely of Scottish descent resulted in the formal establishment of a congregation in the area then known as Appoquinimy. The first known church, a wooden structure, was erected nearby on land that was purchased in 1711. A subscription to erect a new church was circulated in 1769. Services were being held in the present house of worship by 1773. . One of the members of the committee to collect subscriptions for the building was Thomas McKean, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Regular services were discontinued following the congregation’s move to a new church in Odessa in 1861. In 1895, the Friends of Old Drawyers was organized to preserve the church and grounds. Many prominent colonial and state leaders are interred in the adjoining Old Drawyers cemetery.

A combined service of all churches in the Odessa community is held here once a year in June.

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