The building of the Methodist Church

The first McCook Methodist Church was built for $3,000. Courtesy photo

I learn something new every day when I am browsing through old newspapers. This time I was working on the history of churches in McCook and came across an article concerning the dedication of the new Methodist church in 1905. That church was located on West 1st Street and strangely enough, there was another “new Methodist church” in 1909 which is the one we all recognize today on Norris Ave. I didn’t know, however, that the first Methodist church was a wooden structure and I lucked into finding a picture of it when the McCook Tribune did a huge layout covering the dedication of the 1905 Methodist church!

A history of the Methodist congregation accompanied the picture and I thought it might be interesting to pass that information along. As I have said in previous articles, the Congregational church was the first religious structure built in McCook but the Methodists weren’t far behind.

From the March 10, 1905, McCook Tribune: “In the early spring of 1884, Rev. Allen Bartley, who at that time lived on a homestead where the town of Bartley now stands, established a Methodist appointment in McCook, renting the room now occupied by C. K. Putman as a Candy Kitchen. Preaching once in four weeks. On the 19th of May 1884, the Methodist Sunday School was organized in the Menard Opera House, which had just been completed, with an enrollment of seventeen members.” (Mrs. J. H. Yarger and Mrs. H.H. berry were the teachers.)

Continuing from the same article: “On May 4, 1884, Rev. Allen Bartley, assisted by Rev. J. M. Mann, organized the church with a membership of fourteen members, the following members uniting in the organization: Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Yarger, Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Berry, I. T. Birdsall, D. S. Brakeman, J. A. Wilcox, John Enyeart, Amanda Enyeart, Emma Enyeart, Nettie C. East, and Martha, J. M. McManigal. The class and Sunday school continued to meet in the opera house until the following January.”

It seems that in 1884 McCook was made a station in the West Nebraska Conference (Methodist). Rev. P.C. Johnson, presiding elder of the Indianola district, and McCook left to be supplied by the elder. The elder not being able to secure a supply, the church was left without preaching services until January 1, 1885, when the elder secured Rev. E.J. Hall of Washington, D. C., to take charge of the work.

Rev. W. S. Wheeler replaced Rev. Hall on April 1 of 1885 and less than two months from the time he took charge, on May 19, 1885, the corner stone of the first Methodist Church was laid. “As soon as the building was up and under roof and before either doors or windows were in they moved in and have since occupied the same until last Sunday, March 5, 1905, when they held their first service in their new church. The parsonage was built by the Ladies Aid society at an expense of $1,600. The foundation was completed May 16th, 1898, and the building was occupied early in July of the same year.” McCook Tribune 3/10/1905

That first wooden Methodist church was built for $3,000 supported by a membership of only 30 souls. The congregation struggled until the annual conference was held in McCook in 1893 and on May 18, 1903, Bishop Charles Fowler visited McCook and spearheaded the movement to build the 1905 church.

My next article will go into detail on the building of the 1905 Methodist church. The structure was quite impressive. I wish it still existed today.