Zion’s Red Church on busy Route 61 in West Brunswick Township is Schuylkill County’s oldest church.

While the red brick structure standing near Orwigsburg was built almost 150 years ago, the church’s beginnings date to 1755 when its congregation met in members’ homes, according to a church’s history.

The first building was a log cabin constructed on the same site as the current church. The cabin had barely been used a year when it was burned down by Native Americans in 1756.

The second church was built in 1770, but by 1794, the building needed expensive improvements. It also was becoming too small for its congregants, the church history says.

The structure was leveled and a third church was built over the course of nine years. It was dedicated in 1803.

The fourth and final church was built between 1883 and 1884.

“This is the current building that sits next to Route 61, where thousands of people pass by each day. Most of them probably don’t realize they are passing such a historically rich building,” according to the church history.

Through the years, the church has been remodeled, including the installation of stained glass windows and a basement. The original steeple was remodeled, too.

The church’s cemetery, which lies across Route 61, has a 5-ton stone memorial dedicated to the dozens of Revolutionary War soldiers buried there.

Located inside its main gate, it was installed in 1937 by the Fort Lebanon Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution of Orwigsburg.

Worship services for the church, which is a combined congregation of the United Church of Christ and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, are held at 10:30 a.m. Sundays.