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St. James, Duke and Orange
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It was an ordinary day. Bright and sunny with a slight tinge of crisp coolness to the air. Our fall weather has been slightly above average and today is one of those days, but you can still tell that it is fall. The long shadows indicate late afternoon as I walk west on East Orange Street in center city Lancaster, PA. My mission today is to take a few photos of the residences, churches and community buildings along Orange Street for a story I want to write on the book "Orange Street" by Marion Wallace Reninger. I found the book when I was going through a few final boxes of "stuff" after my mother died a little over a month ago. Gave the book to my dad for his 75th birthday in 1995. Neat little book with a bright orange cover that was written about an old street in Lancaster on which many historic and interesting events took place - from before the Revolutionary War up to the present time. There are a few illustrations, but I want to try to document the information with photographs. Or, at least, that is my intention. When I reached the corner of Orange and Duke Street, I thought I would take a look at how the new courtyard of our church, St. James Episcopal, looks with the fountain in place. Last week they were going to lift it in place with a four-story-tall, telescoping boom on a crane. the four-and-a-half ton fountain was too much weight and too large to maneuver by hand, so the crane was put into action. Well, the courtyard looks great. The pre-cast fountain is the center-piece of the courtyard. It is part of our $2.1 million construction project that is the first update to the church since 1961. Funny how I remember, as I stood by the fountain, the 1961 addition of the chapel and cloister like it was yesterday. Back then I climbed the steps in the bell tower to reach the top and photograph the additions from on high. That's not going to happen during this trip though. The new changes include a slate-roofed narthex opening onto the new courtyard, a multi-purpose basement room, a refurbished chapel, and lighting, plumbing and tech upgrades to the 1744 church. The fountain is a two-piece unit with a two-foot bowl with four spouts that will have water cascading into the pond below. Pretty neat! The narthex features four wide, pivoting, floor-to-ceiling glass doors framed by columns and brick arches that match the cloister that was added in '61. I was alone as I took my photos today of the addition, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, bringing back those memories from the past. Must admit that I did it back then with an old film camera as well as a Polaroid Land Camera instead of the DSLR as I am using today. The whole thing is truly impressive from the fountain to the carved sculptures on the posts of the cloister. Since I probably will not include any of these photos in my story about Orange Street, I thought I would let you see exactly what has been happening at St. James. Hope you enjoy and please stop to see it in person. It is truly a wonderful place. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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Steeple and Bell Tower. I used to climb the wooden stairs in the steeple and take photos from the bell tower. Not anymore!
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Workers installing the fountain. (from the Lancaster Newspaper)
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Fountain as it appeared today.
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Inside of the Narthex showing the doors that open and swing out.
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Cross above the chapel.
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Carvings on the posts by the Narthrex and around the cloister.
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