Terre Haute Postcards - First Methodist Episcopal Centenary Church
More postcards from my collection...
First Methodist Episcopal Centenary Church
This postcard, stamped in Terre Haute on October 20th, 1905, has no other printed text.
First Methodist Episcopal Centenary Church
This unused postcard also contains the text...
24
Published by I. & M. Ottenheimer, Baltimore, Md.
First Methodist Episcopal Centenary Church
This unused postcard has no other printed text but is stamped...
Compliments
American Red Cross
Terre Haute
I have another copy of this postcard that does not have the American Red Cross stamp.
The stamp is not a reference to the USO (United Service Organization) canteen that was set up in the United Station railway terminal during WWII. The Red Cross and USO canteens were operated separately. For more information on the USO canteens see the Identified WW II USO Canteens page.
First Methodist Episcopal Centenary Church
This postcard, with an unreadable date stamp, has the printed text...
No. C1823
Published by The American News Company, New York
Leipzig - Berlin - Dresden
Printed in Germany
Leipzig - Berlin - Dresden
ANC NY Litho-Chrome Trade Mark
The history of this church is the history of the First Methodist Episcopal, Centenary Methodist Episcopal Churches and United Methodist Temple and is a little confusing...
The United Methodist Temple (not the one in the above postcard image) was originally founded in 1826 as Asbury Chapel on land at Fourth and Poplar Streets that was set aside by the city to be given to the first church group to erect a building on it. The first Methodist church in Terre Haute was built on the site in 1833. Repairs, increased need for parking, and the population shift were the determining factors in the decision to move the church to Seventh and Poplar Streets.
The First Methodist Episcopal church (not the one in the above postcard image) was located on the northwest corner of Seventh and Poplar Streets. The cornerstone was laid in 1894 and it was dedicated on May 26th, 1895 at a cost of $45,000. In 1900, it was described as "the most costly and elegant Protestant church in the city." The building changed name in 1925 to the Methodist Temple when it merged with the Centenary Methodist church. This agreement ended in 1929. In 1969, the congregation moved to the New Methodist Temple which was built at 5301 South U.S. Highway 41. The original building at Seventh and poplar was demolished shortly after this move and the Vigo County Public Library was erected on the site.
The original Centenary Methodist Church was built in 1866, the centennial year of Methodism in America, at 301 North Seventh Street. That building was demolished and a new building, the one in the above postcard image, was built in 1904. It was almost totally destroyed by fire in 1916 and the New Centenary Church was built on the site in 1917.
This page created 26th August 2008, last modified 4th September 2008