Altar, 1902

This is the original altar of the Immaculate Conception Church in Berwick, PA.  Irish immigrants founded this Roman Catholic Church in 1902.

A Church served many purposes for the immigrants.  They brought their religious beliefs with them from their former homes and, with others from the same area and religious background, often build Churches almost immediately upon arriving in America.  As a result of this occurring with the many different ethnic groups that arrived in this area, many different ethnic Churches were built in the Anthracite Region.  Immigrants, especially the women, went to Church to worship and socialize as well as to receive financial assistance if their husbands were killed in the mines.  This assistance could help the family until another source of income was found.  

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