1911 - Jason Lee United Methodist Church - Salem, Oregon
Posted by: 
ddtfamily
N 44° 57.226 W 123° 01.462
10T E 498077 N 4977814
A beautiful old Methodist church building in Salem, Oregon
Waymark Code: WMFAV2
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 09/21/2012
Views: 1
The Jason Lee United Methodist Church was built in 1911 to address the need for a church in the growing neighborhoods of north Salem. The first services were held at the church in 1912. In 1949, the church added classroom spaces to the east side of the building and in 1970, the sanctuary floor was leveled and a new entrance added to the south side of the building.
Jason Lee was a Methodist missionary and pioneer, one of the founders of the Oregon Territory, presiding over the meetings to form the first provisional government in Oregon in 1841 and 1843. Born in Quebec in 1803, at age 30 he led a group of Canadians to Fort Vancouver with the intention of establishing a mission. When that site proved untenable, he relocated the mission to a site northwest of present day Salem. A believer in higher education, Lee formed the plan that became the Oregon Institute, now Willamette University, the first college west of the Mississippi River. Lee died of natural causes in 1845 at the age of 41.
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