County of church: Lincoln County
Location of church: Old Alexandria Rd., (Old US-61), Old Alexandria (Old Hines)
Mailing address is in Troy the nearest post office
Mailing Address: 87 Old Alexandria Rd., Troy, MO 63379
Phone: (636) 528-4070
News article text:
"One hundred and seventy years ago (1844), a group of dedicated Christian people decided to start meeting in their homes to worship in the Old Alexandria area. After about two years they decided to construct a log chapel. People came by foot, horseback, and horse drawn carriages to worship. In 1897 the church became known as The Old Alexandria Methodist Church. In 1968 the word United was added when the United Brethren and Methodist merged.
"The church was served by circuit riders on horseback, later students from Wesleyan College at Warrenton, and the Eden Seminary in St. Louis and has been a part of different charges with neighboring churches. Presently, it is still a charge with the Moscow Mills United Methodist Church and shares a parsonage at Moscow Mills.
"In 1856 a wood frame building was erected with a hitching post for horses. There were two front doors and a division in the middle allowing the men to sit on one side of the church and the women on the other. A flat roof covered the building. It was soon decided that the music and singing did not reverberate well. They decided a cathedral type roof was a better fit and constructed it.
"As the community grew in population, a Sunday School was initiated and the church flourished. Many memories of church dinners and picnics with long tables laden with all sorts of good food and 10 gallon stone jars filled with iced squeezed lemonade and where people sat under large oak trees.
"In 1951 a woman’s organization was formed known as The Women’s Society of Christian Service but was later changed to United Methodist Women’s Society.
"On October 24, 1953, the first Lord’s Acre Sale was held on the church lawn. Members brought their quilts, baked goods, farm products, and farm animals to be auctioned off to the highest bidder with the proceeds of these items to make church improvements.
"In 1956 an educational room and basement with a kitchen and dining room was built onto the church. The church held their first Bible School in 1969.
In 1978 the church was in some stages of needing repair. The foundation was crumbling, the roof was sagging, and one wall leaning. Plans for a new structure began. In late 1979, the first service, a service of consecration and commemoration of 135 years was held in the new brick sanctuary.
"In 2004 the old kitchen and old basement had water damage and severe cracks in the walls; it was decided to tear off the old Sunday School rooms and tear out the basement. A new basement complete with a larger kitchen, and new educational rooms were added. With God’s blessings, the church was able to have their 2006 Lord’s Acre Sale in the new basement. The educational rooms were completed in 2007.
"Many generations of weddings, births, baptismal, and deaths have been held at the Old Alexandria United Methodist Church. Come help them celebrate 170 years of sharing God’s word on Sept. 20, with the annual Fried Chicken and Whole Hog Dinner, serving from 4- 7 p.m. Sept. 21 at 10:45 p.m. with a carry in meal after the service." ~ Lincoln County Journal
A little area history:
"A post office in the extreme northeast part of Bedford Township, about five miles north of Troy. It was established in 1886, and discontinued between 1904 and 1910. Named for old Mr. Israel Hines, who lived near the site, by some of his relatives who had secured the establishment of the post office there. He was doubtless the same man as Israel R. Hines, said in the County History to have been born in Wayne County, West Virginia, in 1847, to have spent his early years rafting on the Ohio River, and later to have farmed land in Lincoln County.
On the same site was earlier located the old town of Alexandria, later called Old Alexandria. Alexandria was surveyed and laid out in 1822, and became the county seat in 1823. It was the second place to be chosen as county seat for Lincoln County, the first having been Monroe (q.v.).
After the St. Louis and Hannibal Railroad in 1822 had passed a few miles away from it, however, it rapidly declined. The last court session was held here in 1829, after which the county seat was moved to Troy. Some thirty years later it was revived under the name of Old Alexandria, the change being made to avoid confusion with the rising town of Alexandria in Clark County, which assumed that name in 1848 and had a post office since 1853.
Old Alexandria is first listed as a post office in 1876. It was discontinued, however, by 1886, the same year that saw the establishment of Hines. The old place was named for Alexandria, Virginia, on the south side of the Potomac River opposite Washington, D.C."
~ Postal Guide; Hayward; Goodwin; Parker, MISSOURI IN 1867, pg. 301; Williams N.E., MISSOURI I, pg. 399; HIST. LINCOLN, pgs. 405-6; 554-5; COUNTY ATLAS 1878, pg. 14; COUNTY MAP 1939; Miss Elliott's thesis; Andy J. Brown