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Sodus Third United Methodist Church

Historic Site #:	12-069   (Exists)   Type: D,E1	Town:	Sodus
Site Name:	Sodus Third United Methodist Church	GPS Coordinates:	43.23619, -77.06576
Address:	56 West Main Street Sodus New York
Description:
The architect of the brick building was Mr. Dryer of Rochester. The building originally had a balcony. The contractor was Mr. Wadsworth who went bankrupt in March 1888 and assigned the work to his son, Dr. Wadsworth of Warsaw. the son, unhappy with the charge, did a sloppy job of overseeing construction. The architecture is Richardson Romanesque Revival.  The architects were Fay & Dryer, a Rochester firm.  The architectural drawings are on file at the River Campus Libraries.

 

1838-1887 Cobblestone Church (Courtesy Wayne County Historical Society)	After the windstorm of 1890 (Courtesy of Wayne County Historical Society)
Exterior, 2012 (used with permission of Loreen Jorgensen)	Interior, 2012 (used with permission of Loreen Jorgensen)
Photo by Bavis 2014

 

Historic narrative:

Organized in 1838, the congregation began building a cobblestone church in 1838 which was not finished until 1846. In 1888 they built a brick building with a tall steeple. The original plans called for a carriage way on the west side. The deed for that plot of land said no buildings could be built there. If the church changed the deed, it would become liable for the former owner’s debts.  Damaged in 1890 by high winds and in the 1930s by rot, the steeple has been shortened to today''s height.

References:

History of the third Methodist Episcopal church, Sodus, NY. Martha C. White. 1989

Sodus – 1901: an atlas and directory of the Town of Sodus and Sodus Bay. Ed. By Lewis H. Clark, Jr. 1901.

A History of the Churches of Sodus. Lewis H. Clark, Jr. 1926.

Landmarks of Wayne County. George W. Cowles. 1895.