Isaac Pursell Explained

Isaac Pursell
Birth Date:	1853
Birth Place:	Trenton, New Jersey
Death Date:	August 9, 1910
Death Place:	Wenonah, New Jersey
Significant Buildings:	St. John's Episcopal Church, Charleston, West Virginia

Isaac Pursell (June 1853 – August 9, 1910) was a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based architect.

He was born at Trenton, New Jersey in 1853 and attended public schools. He received architectural training in the Philadelphia offices of Samuel Sloan. He was a prolific designer of churches located in the eastern United States. Many of his church designs reflect the English Gothic Revival style. In Philadelphia, he designed the Christ Memorial Reformed Episcopal Church at Chestnut and 43rd Street; St. Matthews' Lutheran; St.Paul's Reformed Episcopal; The Calvary Methodist in Germantown (1892); St. Paul's Presbyterian; Moravian Churchof the Holy Trinity (1879); Bethany Tabernacle, and Christ Protestant Episcopal.^[1]

He died at his home in Wenonah, New Jersey on August 9, 1910, and is buried in Wenonah Cemetery.^{[2] [3]}

Selected works

• 1883: Tygarts Valley Church, Huttonsville, West Virginia, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
• 1887: Makemie Memorial Presbyterian Church, Snow Hill, Maryland, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
• 1887-1888: Christ Memorial Reformed Episcopal Church, West Philadelphia, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. Demolished 2018.^[4]
• 1890: St. John's Episcopal Church (Charleston, West Virginia), Charleston, West Virginia, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
• 1896: Third Presbyterian Church, Chester, Pennsylvania^[5]
• 1911: Hill Crest Community Center, Clinton, Indiana, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

External links

• Seventh Annual Endangered Properties List, Preservation Matters: The Newsletter of The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, Winter 2010
• CHRIST CHURCH COMPLEX, 76 Franklin Avenue, Staten Island, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, August 10, 2010

Notes and References

1. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: St. John's Episcopal Church. March 1989. 2011-07-23 . Pamela Maxfield-Ontko; Rodney Collins. State of West Virginia, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Historic Preservation.
2. Web site: The History of Memorial Presbyterian Church . n.d.. 2011-07-23 . unknown. Memorial Presbyterian Church, Wenonah, New Jersey.
3. Book: American Art Annual, Volume 9 . MacMillan Company . 1911 . 317.
4. News: Saffron . Inga . Another ornate Philadelphia church faces the wrecking ball . 6 June 2023 . Philadelphia Inquirer . April 21, 2018.
5. Web site: Asset Mapping for Chester's Third Presbyterian Church. www.pahistoricpreservation.com. 31 December 2017.