Background:
This church, built 1849, is among the earliest buildings based on St. James the Less, the first true Gothic Revival building in this country. The stone building includes a simple gable facade, fronted by a low pointed, arched stone entrance. Other architectural details include pairs of gothic windows on the side flanks and a small bell-cote on the roof.

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, organized by white Episcopalians to serve African-Americans in Germantown, acquired this stone building (the former Zion Evangelical Church) in 1904. The church later became Mt. Tabor Baptist Church.

Additional Sources:

• GHS: Baugh, J. Gordon. Souvenir of Germantown, p. 14 (photograph and text about St. Barnabas Church).

• GHS: Jellett, Edwin C. "Germantown Historical Miscellany," p. 232: "Old Poor House Lane" (news article written October 8, 1898 ).

• PHC: Mt. Tabor Baptist Church, 62 West Rittenhouse Street, Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form, May 17, 1983 (text, site plan and photograph).