Bear Lake, PA Church Records - Paperback

by Marie Crosby (Editor), Don Rickerson (Editor)

The church served the Bear Lake Community in Pennsylvania for over 160 years, from 1852 to 2016. The book takes at looks at records that were found in the church after it had closed. The records cover a period from the late 1890s to about 1960. It has been indexed with the people in the records with over 2000 entries found. Generations of Bear Lake families attended the church, were baptized, married, and buried as part of this congregation. This book is a remembrance of their church life. Bear Lake's population peaked in 1890 at 313 persons. At that time the town was a bustling community with a train station, milk processing plant, sawmills, and many family farms. The town of Bear Lake had a slow decline in population until the 1970s with 250 persons and then saw a precipitous decline to about 150 persons in 2020. Along with the declining population, the town lost its post office, train stop, stores, and churches. As the town de-populated, so did the church membership from 141 in 1970 to 71 in 2003 and finally closed on Nov 13, 2016.