First United Methodist Church - Laurel, MD - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

From the church website:

First UMC is a member of the Baltimore/Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church. First UMC currently has over 400 members and conducts two traditional worship service.

On March 11, 1840, a group worshiping in an "upper room of the comer house on Yellow Row" (now Ninth Street) was organized in Laurel in the name of The Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1842, The Laurel Mill Company, established by the Snowden Family, presented a "gift of stone and a grant of land" to those early Methodists as a site for their first meeting house. Known as Old Stone Church, It became the first house of worship in Laurel. It was set back from Ninth Street between Montgomery and Main streets. Its ruins were bulldozed away in the 1950's.

Laurel Methodists later split when slavery became an issue and The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, came into being. In 1866 the so-called Southern Methodists in Laurel built their own church on Main Street opposite Seventh Street. It was known as the Frame Church to distinguish it from the old Stone Church. They moved in 1912 into a new church on Montgomery Street between Sixth and Seventh Streets. It was known as Trinity M.E. Church, South.

Old Stone Church continued to house The Methodist Episcopal Church members until 1884 when they moved into a new sanctuary at 424 Main Street. It was named Centenary M.E. Church in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Methodism in America. Trinity and Centenary continued to worship separately until October 5, 1941, when the two congregations began joint worship in the Centenary church.

Mergers among Methodist and other churches caused the local church to change its name from Centenary Methodist Episcopal to First Methodist Church and later to First United Methodist Church.

The original church on Main Street was 30 feet wide and 50 feet deep. In 1909 the east wing was added; a vestibule was built; major additions were made in 1953 and 1962 to expand education and fellowship facilities; and property was acquired on the southeast comer of Fifth and Main streets for parking facilities. In recent years the chancel area has been changed; air conditioning installed in the sanctuary and the floor replaced; and facilities for the disabled provided.

An adjoining parsonage, built in 1893, was razed in 1984 and the space converted to a Memorial Garden. Parsonages are now located at 427 Prince George Street and 419 Prince George Street. In 1990, the church observed 150 years of Methodism in Laurel in a year-long celebration, and published a history covering the period of 1840-1990.

Further expansion of the Sanctuary and education wing began with a ground breaking ceremony on April 25, 1999. Completion of the project took nearly two years. On Sunday, February 18, 2001, First UMC celebrated the completion of the newly renovated Sanctuary with a worship service. Present and former pastors led over 300 members and guests in thanking God for His grace and protection during the construction project.

Date the Church was built, dedicated or cornerstone laid: 01/01/1884 Age of Church building determined by?: Cornerstone or plaque If denomination of Church is not part of the name, please provide it here: United Methodist If Church is open to the public, please indicate hours: From: 9:00 AM To: 2:00 PM If Church holds a weekly worship service and "all are welcome", please give the day of the week: Sunday Indicate the time that the primary worship service is held. List only one: 11:00 AM Street address of Church: 424 Main Street Laurel, MD USA 20707 Primary website for Church or Historic Church Building: [Web Link] Secondary Website for Church or Historic Church Building: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
1) A photo of the church is required for visits to a waymark.

2) Please share some comments about your visit.

3) Additional photos are encouraged. If you can have information in addition to that already provided about this church, please share it with us.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   04/06/2010 Boysrus visited it 03/06/2010 Searcher28 visited it 10/09/2009 jfigel visited it 07/01/2008 DudleyGrunt wrote comment for it

View all visits/logs