Deaver United Methodist Church - Deaver, WY
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T0SHEA
N 44° 53.483 W 108° 35.871
12T E 689683 N 4973692
In a village of less than 200 people, this Methodist church was likely erected by volunteer labour in 1921-22.
Waymark Code: WM10C4G
Location: Wyoming, United States
Date Posted: 04/11/2019
Views: 1
For many years the Lovell and Deaver United Methodist Churches were linked, served by a single minister. In 2014 the minister left the church to minister three churches in Montana and Idaho. At that time the Lovell church linked with the Powell United Methodist Church, leaving the Deaver Church adrift. As a result, the Deaver United Methodist Church changed to a chapel system, with members conducting their own Sunday services. To our knowledge, this situation remains in place.
Deaver, approximately 15 miles north of Byron, Wyoming, was incorporated in 1919, though it was settled several years earlier, meaning that this church could be somewhere around 100 years old in 2019. The architecture suggests a year of construction in this range, but we have scant further information on its history. A news article from the Deaver Sentinel from October, 1921 mentions that the basement of a Methodist Church was nearing completion at the end of the month. Prior articles note that there was interest in building a "Union Church", to serve Methodists and Baptists.
The building itself is fairly plain, the sanctuary a simple rectangle with a single tiny transept at the rear, rectangular wood framed windows, hardboard shingle siding, metal roofing (including that on the steeple) and a small classical portico over the entrance. That double door entrance is framed within mortared fieldstones, possibly faux and added relatively recently. At the peak of the gabled roof, over the entrance, is a small steeple with two steps, one of which becomes a tallish pyramidal spire, the obligatory wooden cross standing atop. If there was a bell in the steeple, it has either been removed or is no longer used, as there are no vents or openings in what would normally be the belfry.
