Hythe United Church Bell Tower - Hythe, Alberta
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 55° 19.645 W 119° 33.195
11U E 338023 N 6134196
Built beginning in 1930 this Gothic Revival church was the second United Church in Hythe, the first a small log church moved to the town in 1928.
Waymark Code: WM14G7C
Location: Alberta, Canada
Date Posted: 07/03/2021
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member pmaupin
Views: 0

Very much Gothic Revival in style, this wood frame church building was given a steeply pitched wood shingled roof and a large corner steeple-bell tower with a tall hipped roof, also wood shingled, and topped by a round ball finial. The steeple also serves as the church's main entrance and we believe the extra narthex at its front came to be sometime after completion of the main building. The Church Bell was donated by the Northern Alberta Railway around 1955 and was placed in the tower at that time.

Happy Valley Mission, a small log Methodist Church, was built in the winter of 1914-1915 on the southwest corner of NE19 73 10 W6. The minister was Reverend Charles Hopkins. In 1925, with Church Union in Canada, the Happy Valley Methodist Mission Church became a United Church of Canada and was duly titled the Happy Valley Mission Church. This log church was moved into the then new village of Hythe on November 11, 1928. Rev. Wallace Moss, the church's first ordained minister, and family, arrived in Hythe on July 1, 1929.

The good reverend soon noticed that the little log building was too small to encompass the number of congregants and on April 8, 1930 a meeting was held to form a church building committee. Tenders were opened for bids for the construction of a new church on April 22, 1930. Six bids were tendered, ranging from $900.00 to $1165.00, the lowest bidder receiving the contract. Work on the new church progressed rapidly and on June 29, 1930 the first service was held in the still unfinished building, with 84 people attending a Morning Service and 80 people an Evening Service. Services were then held in the Masonic Hall for a year until the basement of the church was finished. When the basement was finally complete, the sanctuary was still incomplete, so services were held in the basement for a time. Dedication of the church took place on July 13, 1930, with 130 people in attendance.

In return for the construction of a garage for the parsonage, the log church was given, to become a chicken coop.

A large Bible dated 1876, and a wooden communion service dated 1896, donated by the minister of the 1911 log church, Reverend Charles Hopkins was used in the church's initial services and remains on display in the church. A model of the church was made by one of the bidders on the church construction, placed in a downtown location and used to collect donations toward the church's construction. The church didn't become mortgage free until June 25, 1947.

Nearly the last service to be held in the church took place on August 29, 2010. The church closed for a time with services alternating between the Hythe Continuing Care Centre and the Hythe and District Pioneer Lodge, conducted by the Minister for the Beaverlodge-Wembley-Hythe Pastoral Charge. Open once again, services, according to the church's sign, are held every 2nd and 4th Sunday at 7:00 P.M.
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Address of Tower:
10204 100 Street
Hythe, AB Canada
T0H 2C0


Still Operational: yes

Number of bells in tower?: 1

Relevant website?: [Web Link]

Rate tower:

Tours or visits allowed in tower?: No

Visit Instructions:
Please post an original picture of the tower taken while you were there. Please also record how you came to be at this tower and any other interesting information you learned about it while there.
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