Bethesda Church at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
Historical Furnace Village Main Page
Bethesda Church is the only historical building at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site that is not located in the furnace village. It is about a mile away near the corner of Hopewell and Bethesda roads. Visitors can drive to it or hike a mile (two mile round trip) from the Visitor Center on the Lenape and Bethesda Church trails. The church is not open to the public, and you can’t enter the cemetery either, but both are close enough to the parking lot that you can get a good look.
Bethesda Church was mainly attended by people who lived and worked at Hopewell Furnace (there were other churches as well). It was built in 1781-82 by Thomas Lloyd III, an employee of the furnace. At the time, Lloyd did not intend the building to be a church of any particular denomination and in fact called it the Lloyd Meeting House. It only became a Baptist Church in 1827, seven years after his death in 1820.
The earliest known grave in the Bethesda Church cemetery is that of Thomas Kirby, who died in 1807. Kirby sold wood to Hopewell Furnace. There are some graves with no inscriptions, so they could be from an even earlier time. The last burial was in 1997.
Bethesda Church Cemetery at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
The United States government purchased the Hopewell Furnace property in 1935 from the descendants of the Brooke Family, owners since 1800. Along with the sale came Bethesda Church, which was still an active church at the time. The congregation didn’t move to another facility until 1989.
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Last updated on March 20, 2025
