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Residence of Mr. Ebenezer Rowley
After the first church was consumed
by flames, a second church was built on the same site in 1871
and this church too was destroyed by fire in 1883. |
First
United Methodist Church.
The first pioneer families who came to Niles
found themselves m a rough, raw settlement that was struggling
to survive on the brink of a harsh frontier. Few of the amenities
of the eastern seaboard were to be found here, and the early community
waited long before it was able to provide regular schools and
organized churches.
These first settlers were Protestants, representing
many different denominations, none of which was large enough to
organize a church congregation and establish a permanent house
of worship. Small groups of worshippers met in private homes for
years, but there was not a single organized church in Weathersfield
Township until 1839. This was many years after the first church
has been established in the county, so that Niles worshippers
were constrained to go to Youngstown, Warren, or Howland to attend
services they preferred.
Methodist ministers were noted for their field
work and their willingness to evangelize in distant places. It
was one such preacher, the Rev. Samuel Lane, a circuit
rider, who occasionally preached at the Rowley home. Methodists
had been assembling for services as early as 1814 in the home
of Ebenezer Rowley, located on North Main Street. It
was located on North Main Street on what is now the grounds of
the McKinley Memorial. The house is still standing at 22 Wagstaff
Ave. (1976) having been moved there in 1918 when the Memorial
was built.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was established
in 1839 with six persons in the first class, including Mr.
and Mrs. Bowman, Mr. and Mrs. Gray, Mrs. Nancy McKinley,
mother of the future president of the United States, Mrs.
Chasity Van Wye. William McKinley, Sr. and Josiah
Robbins were appointed trustees to manage the building of
the church.
Through the efforts of Ebenezar Rowley, William
McKinley, Sr., Abraham Van Wye, Thomas Anderson, the first Methodist
church was organized in 1844, with the following trustees elected:
Pelig Brown, Abraham Van Wye, John Fee, William McKinley,
Sr., Ebenezar Rowley, Thomas Anderson, John Draa, James Blacksley
and Josiah Meeks.
The first Methodist Church building was completed
in 1844 on a lot donated by James Heaton, founder of Niles, on
Mechanic Street now Arlington Street). The cost of the church
was $750. Rev. Dillon Prosser served as the preacher
in charge.
In May of 1863, John and Eliza Fee deeded to
the church lot#75 with a five room house on the property located
on the corner of West Park Avenue and Mechanic Street, right next
to the church property. |
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Picture of the Methodist Episcopal Church in
Niles located on the corner of West Park and Arlington Street.
This building replaced the frame church that burned in 1883. |
This
building soon became inadequate and in 1871 a larger structure
was erected with a seating capacity of 800 at a building cost
of $1200.00. This building was destroyed by fire in 1883. The
parsonage also was badly damaged by the same fire.
For 12 months the congregation met in the old
town hall and in 1884 the third Methodist church was built on
the same site. It was smaller, providing for a seatingcapacity
of 350 and costing $3500.00. This was the church that was dismantled
in 1908 to make room for the red Pennsylvania stone sanctuary
that served the Niles congregation for nearly 50 years and was
destroyed by fire early on the morning of October 1, 1951.
In 1908 the old Methodist Church was sold to
U. Q. Woodruff for $500. with the provision that he clear
the site immediately so work might be started on the new church
on the northwest corner of West Park Aveue as soon as possible.
On June 14, 1908 the cornerstone was laid. Construction cost $44,000.00.
Photo
of the old Methodist church which was located at the corner of
Arlington and West Park Avenue before it burned down in 1951.
PO1.358 |
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First
Methodist Church built in 1908. |
Picture of the Methodist Episcopal Church in
Niles located on the corner of West Park Avenue and Arlington
Street. This building replaced the frame church that burned in
1883, and was dedicated in 1908. It was used by the Methodist
community until it too was destroyed by fire in 1951.
Taken between 1908-1915 this view of the public
park shows the Methodist Church on the right, which was dedicated
in 1908. On the extreme right is the porch of the Town Hall which
was moved when the Memorial was built and the public park became
part of the Memorial grounds. |
Postcard from the dedication of the First Mehodist
Church, December 20, 1908.
The cornerstone was laid June 14, 1908, and the
building dedicated December 20, 1908.
The first church had been built
on site of the present parish on Park Avenue in 1844.
Second church was built in 1873
but was completely razed by fire in the fall of 1883.
Third church built on the site in
1884 continuing until dismantled in 1908. |
Aerial view of downtown Niles. Red arrow indicates
location of First Methodist Church.
PO1.879
View of the First United Methodist
Church with both parsonages on each side. |
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The bell itself, has an interesting history.
It was cast in 1860 by the Hoffman Foundry Company in Cincinnati
and sold to the church by the Cincinnati Bell Company. While the
previous church was being razed to make way for the present structure
the bell disappeared. Church members were very incensed over their
loss. After the church was completed, the bell mysteriously reappeared.
However, it was not installed in the bell tower,
just placed in the bell tower. This past week, V.E. Fickes,
Warren steeple jack, completed the job that was started in 1908.
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Church
Bell September 29, 1949
The sound of a bell, silent for decades, will be heard in Niles
Sunday morning, emanating from the tower of the First Methodist
Church, where it had rested unnoticed since the edifice was erected
in 1908. The ringing will start at 9:00 am heralding the Rally Day
observance, which opens the fall church attendance emphasis.
To Ted Hutchings, only surviving member of the original
building committee of the church, goes the honor of ringing the
bell for the first time since it was used in two earlier church
buildings.
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First
Methodist Church Groups. |
Methodist Church Band |
East Ohio 1910 Conference |
East Ohio 1910 Conference |
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Usher's Club 1 |
Usher's Club 2 |
The 1915-16 Methodist Church picnic. Ernst
T. Law is holding his daughter Venita Law Heinmiller.
His wife, Hazel Hanson Law, is the lady in the third
row on the right side in a hat with white trim. PO1.1913 |
Group Photograph First Methodist Church
1924
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Group Photograph First Methodist Church
1924
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Group Photograph First Methodist Church
1924
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Parsonages. |
Park Avenue Parsonage |
Arlington Street Parsonage |
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Arlington Street Parsonage
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Arlington Street Parsonage |
Arlington Street Parsonage |
The house, now located on the site of the new
parsonage, will be partially dismantled and plans call for utilization
of the structural framework only. The new parsonage will be colonial
in design. The exterior surface will be cedar shakes featuring
a panel of rock crab orchard stone in a random rectangular pattern.
The flagstone terrace at the front entrance will have a wrought
iron handrail. |
New
Parsonage October 20, 1950
Construction will be started immediately on a new parsonage for
the First Methodist Church on Arlington.
The present parsonage on West Park Avenue will be renovated and
remodeled for use as a parish house.
More than $20,000 has been raised to finance the two projects.
It is estimated that approximately $16,000 will be spent for construction
of the new parsonage. The remainder of the money will be used
for converting the present parsonage into a parish house.
Plans for the first floor as drawn up by the architect, Donald
L. Bostwick, call for a large living room, a dining room,
kitchen, breakfast room and lavatory.
The second floor will include three spacious bedrooms, with adequate
closet space, and bathroom.
Reverend A. Robert Anderson,
pastor, said the parish house, to be located on the present parsonage,
will provide ideal facilities for youth activities. There will
be a small chapel for mid-week services and other such activities.
The parish house, when completed, will also feature modern recreational
facilities. Vernon Newhard is general contractor for
the construction work, C.H. Mergler is chairman of the
church building committee. |
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October 1, 1951
Fire Destroys First United Methodist Church. |
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Niles, Warren
Fireman Fight Flames for Nearly Three Hours.
Fire discovered at 5:30 am today completely gutted the First Methodist
Church at the northwest corner of Park Avenue and Arlington Street
with a loss estimated at $300,000.
All contents of the Romanesque-architecture sandstone structure,
erected in 1908, were destroyed except for church records saved
from the office.
Insurance on the structure approximately totaled slightly over
$100,000 and $20,000 on contents.
The blaze, evidently underway for some time, was discovered by
William Williams of 132 Holford Street, a passerby who
aroused the Reverend A. Robert Anderson, pastor, at the
parsonage on Arlington Street just north of the church. Williams
then ran to the Niles Fire Department a few hundred feet away
and sounded the alarm.
The entire north side of the church was blazing furiously when
discovered. The blaze had leaped to the roof of the three story
edifice while flames were billowing from the windows.
Members of the Niles Fire Department, directed by Fire Chief
James Swager, used all department equipment in battling the
fire and summoned aid of two trucks from the Warren Fire Department.
Firemen turned water on the nearby parsonage on the north side
of the church and parish house on the west. The recently remodeled
parsonage was undamaged but some minor heat damage resulted to
the parish house.
The roof of the building collapsed at the height of the fire,
which was seen for many miles and attracted a huge crowd despite
the early hour.
Cause was undetermined but Reverend Anderson cited possibility
of defective wiring. There had been a small fire in the furnace,
located in the basement on northwest side of the church, but doubt
was expressed by Reverend Anderson that it resulted from the heating
system.
The church was closed when the pastor left the building at 10:45
pm Sunday. Odor of smoke was noted around or after midnight and
led to a check of the parsonage but nothing out of order was discovered
in the area.
Men of the church and other volunteers succeeded in saving church
records from the office.
Included in the entire contents destroyed were $2,500 worth of
new tables and chairs for the basement acquired a few weeks ago,
a new television set and recently installed public address system.
For 43 years this building was the church home for many Nilesites.
On October 1, 1951 the beloved church was consumed by a fire.
Immediately plans were formed to build another church. This time
the congregation met in the Masonic Temple until the new church
on the hillside between Crandon and Hartzell Avenue was completed
in 1956.
The fire was the largest in Niles since flames swept the Wilder
Manufacturing plant on November 12, 1948 with damage estimated
at approximately $250,000.
Fire in February 1941 completely destroyed
the First Baptist Church on Church Street, recently replaced by
a handsome brick building dedicated a month ago.
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February 1953: Strong
winds blew down temporary scaffold around the First Methodist
Church. Burned October 1, 1951, the building is being wrecked
this week.
The Board of Trustes of the church has entered
into an agreement with the Highway Wrecking Company of Youngstown,
Ohio to clear the ruins of the old building. The contract was
let at a cost of $925 plus salvage, and represented the lowest
bid received. The highest bid was $6,000. The work is to be completed
by March 1, 1953.
Sub-committees responsible for various units
of the new church, to be erected on Hartzell Avenue, have been
studying the proposed floor plans for the new building.
The problem at present is in keeping the total
number of cubic feet within the budget. |
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New First Unitd
Methodist Church on Hartzell Avenue. |
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Left: Architect Drawing of new
church.
Middle: Actual photo of new church.
Right: Overview of Church Construction.
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Hartzell Avenue View of Completed Church.
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Crandon Street View of Completed Church.
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Above: Steel girders forming the
structure of the church.
Center: Top of steeple being hoisted
to its final position.
Right: Steeple with scaffolding
in place to attach stainless steel panels. |
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Steeple Construction
November 17, 1954 |
Steeple Construction
June 1955
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A photo of the interior of the First United Methodist
Church located on Crandon Avenue. |
This
is the church that was constructed after the devastating fire
that destroyed the church downtown. S11.99 |
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