Records indicate that Methodist meetings
and services were held in private homes as early as 1818. Methodist
evangelists would occassionally venture into the area to hold services.
In 1854, the Illinois Central
Railroad came through town, spurring a growth of business and new settlers.
In 1865, a combination church and school, called Tangipahoa Academy, was
built one mile west of Tangipahoa at the site of today's Tangipahoa Cemetery.
The district judge conducted school there in the summer. The Baptists
and Methodists used the building for services on alternating Sundays.
The congregation remained relatively
small for some time. The Methodists still met in homes, store warehouses,
and other buildings that would accomodate them.
On November 2, 1871, Maton S.
Newsom, Sr. donated a lot on the corner of Robb and Tarplay Streets to
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the Greensburg Royal Arch Chapter
of Free Masons, Ch. 28. Mr. Newsom also had a 2 story wooden building
constructed on the lot. Meetings of the Royal Arch Lodge were held
there until 1905. In 1955, the Grand Lodge deeded the building over
to the Methodist Church.
The building was sometimes called
Union Church (because Baptists and Presbyterians also used it) or Newsom's
Chapel. The Baptists left in 1878 and soon built their own church.
When the Presbyterians dissolved their local church at the turn of the
century, it left the church to the Methodists.
A parsonage was constructed
near the church in 1947, and in 1951 the roof of the church was lowered
and a fellowship hall added. In 1974, the congregation built a new
brick church across the street from the old church. The old church
was still used for Sunday school and as a fellowship hall.
Source: “History of Tangipahoa UMC”, Harvey Hutchinson,
Jr. |
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