Green Street Church - Englewood, FL - Relocated Structures on Waymarking.com

Marker text:
The Green Street Church and Museum began as Englewood's first church building, which was initially on Magnolia near Green Street. Community Methodists began holding Sunday school classes in Josie Quimby Miller's home around 1905. After the church officially organized in 1914, services were held in temporary locations and were led by visiting preachers.
With funding from a variety of sources including Stanley Lampp and The Florida Methodist Conference Board of Missions, the group was able to build a simple frame structure without incurring any debt. The members first worshipped in their new church building on April 5, 1928.

When the 1920's Land Boom collapsed, Englewood was hard hit. The church struggled. Lottie Lampp (Stanley's Niece) is credited with holding the small congregation together. She cleaned the church, provided flowers from her garden for services and played the piano when needed. Through her efforts a Baptist minister and cornetist from Venice, Roy Gustafson called the worshippers together. The sound of the cornet brought fishing parties in from the bay. Women held bake sales to raise the $5 to pay the minister.

By 1952 the congregation was financially strong enough to support a permanent pastor, the Rev. Edgar E. Stauffer, at an annual salary of $2500. The following year the congregation enlarged the facilities and replaced the original slat benches with pews. A widened front door that could accommodate a casket enabled the church to be used for funeral services.

The congregation broke ground for a new sanctuary in 1962 and the original building was moved to the western side of the property and turned to face Green Street. It was redesigned and named the Lampp Youth Center in recognition of the contributions made to the church by the Lampp family. In 1979 the Methodists moved to a new location.

The Church of the Nazarene purchased the Green Street church in 1979. When renovation plans were announced, The Lemon Bay Historical Society became concerned that such work might threaten the historical integrity of the building. After some negotiations, the Church of the Nazarene gave the building to the Historical Society with a 99-year lease on the land for $1 per year. Upon completion of the needed restoration work in 1992, the society turned the church into a museum.

From Lemon Bay Historical Society website:
Englewood’s first church, the original old Methodist Church building, was built in 1928 and used as a community center and hurricane shelter. Originally located on two lots at Magnolia Street on land donated by the Florida Methodist Conference and Stanley Lampp, it was built with volunteer labor under the direction of Burt Anger and Pat Lampp and cost $1,250.

The building has been owned by the Church of the Nazarene since 1978 and is leased to the Lemon Bay Historical Society for 99 years. In the period between 1978 and the late 1980s, it was used by the church of the Nazarene and then by “Helping Hand” an organization that provided emergency aid to the needy of Englewood.

In 1987, the Historical Society executed a 99-year lease of the building from the Church of the Nazarene and began the slow process of restoring the building and returning it to its original 1920’s design—including removing the columned portico and replacing the bell tower. It was not until 1997—when, through the generosity of area pioneers L.A. Ainger, Dorothy Cannon, J.D. “Jack” Tate, and the Helen Vanderbilt Trust, who each contributed enough to match a State grant for $19,400—that restoration of the interior could begin.

Original Location: N 26° 57.679 W 082° 21.714 How it was moved: Wheels / Dolly / Truck Type of move: Other Building Status: Museum Related Website: [Web Link]

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