Fredericksburg
United Methodist Church
Fredericksburg, Virginia
#NC-08170-WP - Notecards
Also available in Assortment Pack #AST-790
The United
Methodist Church was established in Fredericksburg in April, 1802,
when its first minister, the Reverend John Pitts, was appointed.
It was originally located in a small frame building on George
Street.
After a tenuous
existence for its first twenty years, the small congregation began
to grow. This change was due in large measure to the leadership
of John Kobler and his wife Mary, who moved to Fredericksburg
from Culpeper in the early 1820s. To house the growing congregation,
a new brick church was built on Hanover Street in 1841. It was
used until 1862, when it was extensively damaged during the battles
of the Civil War which raged in and about the city.
In 1848 the
members of the church split over the slavery issue, with one group
forming a new church which then became part of the newly formed
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. They constructed a new building
in 1852 on the southwest corner of George and Charles Streets.
At the close
of the war, the two congregations became united once again as
a unit of the Washington District, Baltimore Conference, Methodist
Episcopal Church, South. Worship services were held in the building
at the corner of George and Charles Streets, which had escaped
serious war damage. This building, however, was far too small.
In 1882 the damaged brick structure on Hanover Street was torn
down and replaced by a new brick building, which is still in use
today. Additions were made in 1890, 1900, 1911, 1951 and 1991.
The parsonage,
which was willed to the church by Mrs. John Kobler in 1855, is
thought to be the oldest Methodist parsonage in continuous use
in Virginia.
In 1963 the
church became the first Methodist Church in Virginia in contemporary
times to be integrated.
Text
© 1996 Dianne Harrah, Drawing © 1996 Bill Harrah
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