Completed and dedicated in June of 1884, the Carlton Cowboy Church AKA Carlton Chapel was served by Methodist circuit riders for its first 40 years of existence. The land for the church was deeded to a group representing the Methodist Episcopal Church by Robert Carlton, a Roman Catholic, the only stipulation being that the little church must always display a cross on its steeple. Various circumstances eventually led to the closing of the church in 1924, with it seeing very little use during the next two decades and falling into a state of disrepair. It is said that, at this time, livestock was known to periodically inhabit the building.
At some point the Methodist Diocese deeded the property to the Florence-Carlton Cemetery Association, which still owns the property, with the proviso that it must remain a church in perpetuity. The late '40s and early '50s saw occasional services in the building, then, in the fall of 1954, Presbyterian services began on a regular basis, continuing until February, 1962. In 1963 the building was renovated and enlarged, then a series of ministers passed through, culminating in the procurement of a Baptist minister, David Hansen, in 1983, who served for eight years, leaving in April, 1992 for a pulpit in Belgrade, MT. During Hansen's tenure the church changed from Baptist to nondenominational and built a new church on land purchased immediately east of this church. The first services were held in the new church during Christmas of 1988.
Following the opening of the new church, this one either remained open, or was later reopened, today being used for more informal "Cowboy" services, which are held Wednesday evenings at 7 PM.
When a hopeful article, excerpted below, appeared in The Missoulian in 2011 with hopes that the Cowboy Church would be entered in the national register, the paperwork for the registration of the church had yet to be sent to Washington, D.C. In the interim, however, the church has been entered in the National Register of Historic Places, this occurring on September 23, 2011.
Florence-Carlton Community Church destined for spot
on National Register of Historic Places
By VICTORIA EDWARDS for the Missoulian | May 24, 2011
FLORENCE - In the cemetery behind the 127-year-old church Bob Porch has labored over for more than 60 years lay the friends who helped him restore it.
"I don't find many people here my age now," said the 82-year-old Porch. "Lots of them are in the cemetery."
He is the oldest member of the Florence-Carlton Community Church, but most of his memories aren't in the 28-year-old church building used today - they're inside the historic Carlton Church built in 1884, just down the road and destined for a place on the National Register of Historic Places...
...The Montana Historic Preservation Board gave its conditional approval Saturday to add the church, along with three other buildings in Montana, to the register. If approved by the Park Service, it would be the 80th site in Missoula County to be listed as a historic place.
As a 40-year member of the Florence-Carlton Cemetery Board, which oversees the church, Porch said he's been working for 16 years to have the historic church listed. However, the goal did not seem feasible until 2008, when community preservation coordinator Kate Hampton at the Montana Historical Society visited the church along with the review board...
...In 1883, Robert Carlton, a Roman Catholic, saw the need for a church and cemetery in the community. He gave the land the church was built on to three representatives of the Methodist church, and community members finished construction of the building in 1884.
The church closed in 1924, and was eventually deeded to the present-day owners, the Florence-Carlton Cemetery Association.
Porch joined the church in 1950 after marrying his wife, whose family was the second owners of Robert Carlton's ranch down the road from the church. The congregation began restoring the abandoned church in the 1950s, and eventually became the non-denominational congregation they are today.
As the congregation steadily grew over the following decades, a new church was built in 1983 on land above the historic church. The new building, called the Florence-Carlton Community Church, is much larger and more modern compared to the uncomplicated shape and white-washed siding of the old one, but the Carlton Church still sees some use.
From The Missoulian