St. Paul's Methodist Protestant Church, also known as Stone Church, is a church building located south of Culbertson, Nebraska, United States, on Nebraska Highway 17. It was built in 1900 and was added to the National Register in 1979.[1]
St. Paul's Methodist Protestant Church | |
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| Nearest city | Culbertson, Nebraska |
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| Coordinates | 40°6′52″N 100°48′55″W / 40.11444°N 100.81528°W |
| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1900 |
| Built by | James L. Hoyt |
| NRHP reference No. | 79001446[1] |
| Added to NRHP | January 25, 1979 |
History
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In 1885, a sod church was built to accommodate the growing population of the area along Driftwood Creek.[2][3] Methodist minister M.H. Noe led the first worship services in the sod building the same year.[2] The current building stands across the road from the original sod church.[2]
Construction
editBuilding the Stone Church which succeeded the sod church was a community endeavor, with most of the labor donated by parishioners.[2] Limestone was quarried from a local rock formation and hauled by wagon to the construction site, roughly 5 miles (8.0 km) away.[2][3][4] Church members cut, hewed, and loaded the limestone by hand under the supervision of Jim Flynn and local stonemason James Lewellyn Hoyt.[2][3][4] Hoyt's sons, who at ages eight and ten were too small to load the stones, were tasked with placing dynamite charges to blast the limestone apart in the quarry.[2] The acre of land upon which the church was built was donated by Rebecca Hart.[2][3]
The church's construction is impressive considering that, at the time of its construction, the majority of its parishioners still lived in unimproved sod houses and dugouts.[2] Construction on the church was finished in 1900 and dedicated as the St. Paul Methodist Protestant Church led by Reverend J.E. Darby.[3]
Dedication to Disuse
editFour years later, the congregation of St. Paul Methodist Protestant Church merged with the local group of United Brethren in Christ in 1904.[3] In 1907, the church was formally reorganized as United Brethren.[3] Regular church services continued in the building until 1951.[2][3]
The Stone Church was a cornerstone of the Driftwood Community until the 1950s.[2][3] The church was the home of the local Sunday school, an orchestra, and various local events.[2] In the early twentieth century, the Stone Church was also the polling place of the community.[2]
Restoration
editAt a celebration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the church's construction, a committee was organized to restore the building.[2] Over the course of seventy-five years, the structure had been damaged in several ways.[2] Since the restoration process began, the roof has been replaced, the walls have been reinforced, and faulty electrical wiring has been removed.[2] The interior of the building has been restored to a similar state to its original construction.[2]
The Stone Church has neither plumbing nor electricity due to the era of its construction and its remote location.[2] The building is not in regular use, but is maintained by the Stone Church Community Association as a memorial to the settlers who built it.[3] Annual gatherings are held at the Stone Church to commemorate and celebrate the church and its construction.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Memories long at the old Stone Church". McCook Gazette. 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Nebraska Historical Marker: Stone Church - E Nebraska History". www.e-nebraskahistory.org. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ a b Daniel Kidd (December 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: St. Paul's Methodist Protestant Church / The Stone Church". National Park Service. Retrieved April 14, 2017. With five photos.
External links
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Media related to St. Paul's Methodist Protestant Church (Culbertson, Nebraska) at Wikimedia Commons
