Church of St. James The Less - Historic Church

Historic Church

The building was added to the list of National Register of Historical Places in 1974 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985. According to the National Park Service's official Statement of Significance (as of designation, February 4, 1985): "This is the first example of the pure English Parish church style in America, and one of the best examples of a 19th-century American Gothic church for its coherence and authenticity of design. Its influence on the major architects of the Gothic Revival in the United States was profound."

The building's remarkable fidelity to Gothic design was accidental. When the congregation applied to its parent group in Cambridge, England, for a set of approved plans for its church, it was inadvertently sent measured drawings, prepared by the English architect, George Gordon Place, of St. Michael's Church in Longstanton, Cambridgeshire, built c. 1230, which were followed in every detail under the supervision of architect John E. Carver.

Set on the edge of a hill, north of Mount Vernon Cemetery and east of Laurel Hill Cemetery, the setting for the church is no longer rural. West Hunting Park Avenue, a major artery, is just beyond the churchyard's south wall, and industrial buildings lie to the west. A parish hall, which later housed the parish school, was built on the opposite side of West Clearfield Street .

The Wanamaker Memorial Bell Tower and mausoleum (1908), designed by John T. Windrim, houses a set of J.C. Deagan tower chimes and a chime of bells by the McShane foundry.