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METHODIST CHURCH OF ELVINS
(a/k/a Hampton Methodist Church)
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In the years 1896 and 1897 the church edifice was erected and since that time three additions have been built, bring the church property to an estimated value of $10,000. The church seats about 400 and consists of eight class rooms and an auditorium.
First baptism in the church was Belle Olsen and the first infant baptisms were of Lela Viola Suhre and Marvin Dewey McFarland in August, 1898.
Pastors who have served the church since its organization are: Revs. L. D. Nichol, A. R. Williams, W. J. Velvick, J. A. Collins, A. N. Walker, Thomas Lord, Elmer Pearl, M. H. Markley, J. L. Gray, S. A. Bennett, W. H. Doss (now pastor at Desloge), J. A. Brown, C. P. Kirkendall, M. A. Meyers, W. E. Hill, Thomas Levi Bess, H. M. Fikes, J. A. Bertram, and the present pastor, Rev. J. C. Reid.
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The church has a membership of 316 and an average Sunday School attendance of 125.
Additional Information:
In the later part of 1990, the Elvins United Methodist Church and the Taylor Avenue United Methodist Church of Flat River held separate meeting and after much consideration decided to merge. Thus, the First United Methodist Church was formed, effective January 1, 1991, with all services to be held at the Flat River facilities on Taylor Avenue.
| Daily Journal, June 19, 2001. Fire destroys 100-year-old church  |
By LEROY SIGMAN\Daily Journal Staff Writer
PARK HILLS -- Federal, state and local fire investigators were on the scene to determine the cause of an early morning blaze that destroyed the more than 100-year-old building that housed the Cornerstone Christian Church.
Nearly 20 fire departments from four counties responded to a call reporting smoke coming from the rear of the building shortly after midnight. Within minutes after the first firefighters arrived, flames were coming from the back of the church.
At one point the blaze became so intense that, according to incident commander Rick Whaley, the focus shifted to protecting an adjacent frame building that houses the Good Things from the Attic Thrift Store.
"I want to tell you they did an amazing job of saving that building," Chief Robert St. Gemme of Park Hills said, referring to the success in protecting what was formerly the church parsonage. "Go look and you will see the paint was blistered in only a couple of places. It is only six feet from the church."
Aerial ladder trucks from Farmington, Fredericktown and Festus were used to battle the fire after it broke through the roof. Police Chief Bill Holloway said there were fire trucks stretching over a three-block length of Front Street, the former Highway 32 through what was once Elvins.
More than 60 firefighters from St. Francois, Washington, Madison and Jefferson counties responded to mutual aid calls. A tanker task force from Jefferson County fire departments was activated to keep water flowing to battle the blaze.
A team of three agents of the U.S. Division of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms joined with an investigator from the State Fire Marshal's Office and Park Hills fire investigator Brian Murphy to determine the cause of the blaze. The federal agents normally investigate any fire in which a church is damaged or destroyed.
There was no indication as of 9 a.m. this morning if they had made any preliminary determinations.
The structure included a frame building constructed in the late 1800s, said Holloway, and a granite structure added in 1934. It originally housed the Elvins Methodist Church. The granite section added in 1934 was built by church members who donated their labor.
It was about eight years ago that the Elvins Methodist Church merged with the Taylor Avenue Methodist Church to form the Park Hills Methodist Church. Since then, the structure at the corner of Front and Hampton streets has housed the Cornerstone Christian Church.
The roof of both components collapsed and very little was left of the frame structure, other than the front wall and parts of the side walls. The bell of the church remained in place, though the fire damaged most of what was around it.
Holloway, who attended the Elvins Methodist Church as a child, retrieved a small piece of a stained glass window that had been dedicated to a sister who had died of diptheria as a child. For him and several others like him, many memories were stirred by the blaze this morning.
"The fire had a big start," one Park Hills fireman said. "The granite walls both held in the heat and made it difficult for firefighters to gain access."
Announcements regarding the church and its activities were expected to be made within the next few days.
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BIBLE SCHOOL CLASS - ELVINS METHODIST CHURCH
(Circa 1950's)
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