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United Methodist Church (cobblestone)
| Historic Site #: | 12-025 (Exists) Type: D,D1,E1 | Town: | Sodus | ||
| Site Name: | United Methodist Church (cobblestone) | GPS Coordinates: | 43.21118, -76.97606 | ||
| Address: | 8575 Ridge Rd. Alton NY | ||||
| Description: | |||||
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| Exterior, 2013 (used with permission of Loreen Jorgensen) | |
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| Interior, 2013 (used with permission of Loreen Jorgensen) | Rear, 2013 (used with permission of Loreen Jorgensen) |
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| Photo courtesy of Bette Bugni | From Town Of Sodus Mural |
| Historic narrative: | |||||
Built during the Late period: 1845 - 1860 Organized in 1847, they met in the cobblestone church built by the Christian Church in 1851 by William Walker. In 1888 they purchased the building and are still meeting. In 1968 a remodel of the sanctuary was overseen by Carl Schmidt. About 2005 the building was completely rewired. Information provided by Eugene Dewispeleare Pastor of Alton United Methodist ChurchLocated on Old Ridge Rd near Rt 14 in Alton..The beauty of the stonework attracts many sightseers to stop, walk around the structure and take pictures of a classic. The skill and art used in this type of structure was that of German immigrants who needed work to support themselves and their families. A contract was sent out and men began work on this church in about 1850. Stones were found along the shore of Lake Ontario and transported some five miles by horse or ox power. In the early life of these small rural churches such as this one, they served not only as religious centers but as a center for a multitude of other functions as well. Pot luck dinners, Sunday afternoon entertainment of a proper nature, playing games, baseball, checkers and chess, just to name a few. The community surrounding this church was all invited. Churches were social and cultural centers as well as centers for spiritual and christian development. This was effected by modes of transportation over the years, especially in small outlying communities in a township such as Sodus. With the advent of better and faster transportation the small settlements began to shrink as people migrated to larger population centers. As a result, many of the small businesses failed as well as the small rural churches. People are having to travel greater distances for the services wanted and needed. Many small churches such as this one will gradually disappear from the landscape. It is hard to say what will happen to this beautiful cobblestone structure after the spiritual and christian activity no longer exist in the Alton United Methodist Church. Alton Methodist Church Has Long History By Arch Merrill (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, January 13, 1963) Back of the old cobblestone meetinghouse that stands on Route 104 in Alton is story of patient, painstaking labor on the part of its founders. In the middle of the 19th century, so the story goes, men of the congregation carefully gathered cobblestones from Lake Ontario's shores in bushel baskets, which were loaded on stone-boats and hauled by oxen to the church site. In 1851 the stone church was completed. It is now Alton Methodist Church but it began life in 1842 as the Christian Church of Alton. The principal organizer of the society was the Rev. Amasa Stanton; the first deacons were John Kelly and John Baker and the first clerk was George Gould. When the cobblestone church was built, the trustees were John G. Kelly, Frederick Utter and William R.K. Hone. Around 1880 the church was taken over b y the Methodist Protestant denomination, an affiliation it retained until merger with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1939. Its Pastor since June 1959 has been the Rev. Victor L. Smith, who also serves the Methodist Church at Sodus Point where he resides. A graduate of Houghton College and Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, N.J., he previously previously held Methodist pastorates at McGraw and Lodi. His predecessors have included the Rev. F. M. Purdy, the Rev. Henry M. Becker, the Rev. David Short, the Rev. L.J. Reed, the Rev. Alden Allen, the Rev. J.C. Walden, the Rev. Floyd C. Rogers and the Rev. Fay A. Wideman, who served from 1945 to 1959, the longest tenure of any pastor. During his pastorate an elaborate centennial observance of the church was held in 1951. Mrs. Dayton Pitcher, now 82, has been attending Alton church since the age of six, and for more than 50 years was its organist and for many years taught its Sunday School. Other long-time members are Samuel VanderPool of Sodus who joined in 1905 and Mrs. Agnes Raymoor of Alton in 1906. The present membership of the society is 150. | |||||
Town of Sodus Historical Society web page
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, January 13, 1963 by Arch Merrill
A History of the Churches of Sodus. Lewis H. Clark, Jr. 1926.
The Stone Church, Alton, New York: A History. Margaret Pitcher Williams.
Sodus – 1901: an atlas and directory of the Town of Sodus & Sodus Bay. Ed. Lewis H. Clark, Jr. 1901.
Cobblestone Quest by Rich & Sue Freeman, page 128