Church losing battle over explicit Indian Tower graffiti
Officials from Nazareth Moravian Church say graffiti is a persistent problem inside the Indian Tower memorial built in 1916 at an 18th-century gravesite for 67 people, including four Native Americans.
Officials from Nazareth Moravian Church have let graffiti accumulate since spending $4,500 to clean and repaint the Indian Tower in 2014. The Rev. Jeffrey Gehris says graffiti reappeared within two days.
The Indian Tower memorial built in 1916 at an 18th-century gravesite in Nazareth for 67 people, including four Native Americans
NAZARETH – Tucked away from busy roads, next to an expansive cornfield where the only sound comes from rustling stalks, Upper Nazareth’s Indian Tower sits atop what is thought to be the highest point of the original 5,000 acres that made up Colonial Nazareth.
It’s a peaceful spot, overlooking the area’s first burial grounds, founded in 1744. But, over the years, its idyllic location has been a detriment to its hallowed reputation.
Racial slurs, sexually explicit drawings, references to smoking marijuana, Nazi symbols and curse words mar the two-story structure built in 1916.
The tower, located off West High Street and across from Holy Family Cemetery, is owned by the Nazareth Moravian Church. Moravian officials said vandalism has been a persistent problem – so much so that they’ve had to let graffiti accumulate in the last two years because they can’t afford to keep removing it.
The Rev. Jeffrey Gehris said it cost the church $4,500 to clean and repaint the tower in 2014. Graffiti started appearing again within two days.
Gehris, who has been at the church for five years, said the tower has been cleaned three times during his tenure. Each time, the money comes from the church’s general fund. Gehris was unsure how long the church has owned the tower, but it was turned over to the church by the Moravian Historical Society.
The reason the graffiti removal is so expensive is because there is no power at the site, so contractors must bring their own generators for the pressure washer.
“Last time (the church’s) board said, ‘That’s it.’ We can’t keep doing this if it only lasts two to three days,” Gehris said. “We are at a loss about what we can do about this.”
The tower and its surroundings are steeped with history.
A plaque at the tower says Nazareth’s first Moravian graveyard was known as “God’s Acre” and was in use from 1744 to 1762. The site erroneously was thought to be the burial ground for Native Americans from the nearby village of Welagamika, but of the 67 individuals buried there only four are Native American.
A marble monument was placed on top of the burial mound next to the tower in 1867 and lists the names of those buried there.
As for the tower, it replaced a pavilion called “the summer house,” which was built in 1867 by John Jordan Jr. He later donated $200 to the Moravian Historical Society to replace the pavilion with the present-day tower.
The Indian Tower was commonly thought to have been used as a lookout for hostile Native Americans, but that’s not the case.
“The tower has been used for many purposes over the years,” including as a Civil Defense lookout in World War II and as a “repeater station,” or a place to mount radio transmission for emergency services, says another plaque at the site.
Ben Miller, a lifelong resident of the Nazareth area, couldn’t believe his eyes when he took his 5-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter to the tower for their first time recently.
“There were always people who would do vandalism, but it was few and far between, not like today with the racist, graphic stuff,” Miller said. “I’ve never seen it this way. It’s probably the most sacred spot in Nazareth, and yet it’s the most defaced and most neglected.”
In the past, Miller recalls the graffiti being removed right away. He says the Nazareth area is a great community, and he hopes outsiders don’t think the vandalism is a reflection of its residents.
“The racist and homophobic things written in that tower don’t represent Nazareth . It represents a small group of trouble-makers and idiots, and I would like to see it removed,” Miller said.
Church officials share his frustration, but say efforts to tackle the problem from other angles have come up empty.
Community members, including students from Nazareth Area High School, have volunteered to remove the graffiti but that would involve a lot of work on a ladder, creating an insurance liability for the church, Gehris said.
Church officials considered installing a gate across the driveway that leads to the tower, but the gate would need to be opened every morning and closed every evening by Upper Nazareth police.
“They don’t have time for that,” Gerhis said.
A sign warning vandals that they would be prosecuted was stolen. About three weeks ago, Gehris noticed that aluminum siding installed on the roof’s interior to prevent vandals from spray-painting the wood was ripped down and tossed aside.
Security cameras would have to be battery-operated and would have questionable results. Graffiti remover provided by police doesn’t work on stone, Gehris said.
The church has not reached out to the township recently, but Gehris said the church would consider doing so and would appreciate any help it could provide.
Upper Nazareth Township Manager E.J. Mentry, who has been in his post for a year, said he hasn’t received complaints about the graffiti. But earlier this month, Mentry said he spoke with acting police Chief Bill Cope and the township Department of Public Works about the problem.
Mentry plans to reach out to church officials so they can provide a summary of how extensive the vandalism is and what it has cost to remove.