History

Situated on the Kiskiminetas River, the Armstrong County community of Leechburg looks across the river into Westmoreland County. What originally put the town on the map was the Pennsylvania Canal, one of the great projects of the 1820’s.

The portion of the canal from the Allegheny River through Leechburg to Blairsville opened in 1829. Later, the Pennsylvania Railroad ran its freight line downstream to Freeport and on down to Pittsburgh. The canal and railroad were the economic generators that pushed the growth of Leechburg and brought Episcopalians into the area. Enchanted Abbey (The old Holy Innocents Episcopal Church) is located at the corner of Siberian Avenue and Second street.

Fr. John Henry Hopkins, rector of Trinity, Pittsburgh, came into the area around 1827 to celebrate the Eucharist at the house of Addison Leech, whose family gave the community its name. Leech’s father, David, founder of Leechburg, was a contractor for the canal and dam across the river. He also built and operated canal boats.

Built on land formerly used for an old Lutheran cemetery, (which caused outbreaks of typhoid in the town) sits Enchanted Abbey and The Old Parsonage.  The original deed was signed by Addison Leech (son of David Leech) dated 19th August 1887.  In 1887, the cornerstone was laid, and the church opened December 26, 1889.   Sunday January 3rd 1904 shortly after 7:00am, an overheated flue led to a fire that gutted the frame structure.  Thomas Lloyd led the parish in laying the cornerstone for a new church on the old foundation at 2:00 November 14, 1904.

First worship in the rebuilt church took place in June 22, 1905, and Bishop Whitehead consecrated the debt-free church on November 5, 1913 at 7:30pm.  The rectory (The Old Parsonage) next door to the church, built in 1914, was first occupied by the Rev Edwin J. Norris family.

The downstairs rooms of the rectory (now the Old Parsonage B & B) were used for Sunday classes. The post world War II era found the Leechburg area with a population of 10,000. Principal employment was in steel, coal and nuclear materials.

In 1965 the church needed a new roof, Gordon Benford saw that his company, Allegheny Ludlum, provided a one of a kind stainless steel shingled one.

Lets not forget to mention that Enchanted Abbey is Haunted...

(a  view inside the Bell Tower!)