Wesley Memorial Methodist Church

Now situated at the corner of Chestnut Street and Westchester Drive, Wesley Memorial Methodist Church had its beginnings when a small group of Methodists under the leadership of Peter Doub, one of Methodisms most famous circuit riders, built a one-room church on what was to become Washington Street in a town as yet unincorporated in 1856. This first congregation numbered seventeen people, seven males, and ten females. The congregation grew, and a second church was erected on the same site between 1888 and 1890. Known as Washington Street Methodist Episcopal Church South, this church housed the congregation until 1915 when a third church was built on North Main Street, and the name was changed to Wesley Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South in honor of Methodisms founder John Wesley. Membership continued to grow, and the site on North Main Street was landlocked, so in 1953 a tract of land was purchased on Chestnut Street. Construction was begun in 1958 on the Chapel and the ...