The original document the below came from is part of the Crawford County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society’s Church Collection and is dated April 12, 2012, but there is not a date of when the document was written.
In 1897 the land on the corner of Thoman and Union Streets was purchased for the new Church. The church bought this lot from Joseph J. Talbott on August 24, 1897 for a sum of $1325.00. The construction started, but because of finance and weather, it was covered over for the winter. In June 1898 the work resumed and the corner stone was laid Aug. 16, 1898 at 2:00p.m. The iron box in the cornerstone contains city newspapers of that time, names of the church membership, a roster of city officials, a roster of teachers in the public schools, and other items which might be of interest to future generations. The contractors, Bauer, Minich and Emmer continued construction until it was completed a year later. The photo above is the new Church taken about 1917 with a picture of Rev. C. D. Castle inserted. The dedication of the new Methodist Episcopal Church was held Sept. 10, 1899, under the pastorate of A. F. Upp. It was built at a cost of $15,600 of which $5,200 was collected at that first Sunday morning service. According to the local newspaper, there were over 1000 people in attendance. Bishop D.H. Moore of Cincinnati presided at both the morning and evening services. At the evening service a large crowd was turned away for the lack of seats. Special evening services were held all week commemorating the dedication of the church.
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