A Methodist society met at Westlake
(then known as Bagdad) from 1873 to 1918. Quarterly records from
June 21, 1873 list a Sunday School attendance of 10 to 12 people at Bagdad.
Services were held in the schoolhouse. In 1894, a church was built
on the corner of Miller Avenue and Pilley Street under the leadership of
Rev. F.C. Hocutt. When the 1918 hurricane destroyed the church, the
congregation was left without a church.
Two decades later, in October 1939,
property was purchased after the sale of the Miller Avenue property.
A one-room wood church was built the following year under the leadership
of Rev. W.R. Corrigan.
In November 1949, construction began
on a new brick sanctuary under the leadership of Rev. Martin Hebert.
The little white church was converted to a hold children’s classrooms,
a nursery, and a fellowship hall.
A six room education building was
completed in February 1955. The first parsonage, on Goos Street,
was bought that year. In 1958, a brick education annex and a fellowship
hall were added to the sanctuary. In January 1959, the original ‘chapel
in the pines’ … the white wooden church … was sold to E.E. Rider for $700.
In 1967, the current parsonage was
purchased. In 1979-80, members built a retired minister’s home in
Westlake.
In 1985, the Pomeroy Center and more
classrooms were added and the offices were renovated.
The following year a renovation of the sanctuary was completed.
Source: A Chapel in the Pines, Rosie Newhouse |
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