Breaking News
Local News

First Christian celebrating building anniversary

By Jess Mancini 3 min read

PARKERSBURG - The First Christian Church is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the building on Washington Avenue in Parkersburg from noon-4 p.m. Saturday.

The celebration will include entertainment from the local performer Moon King, tours of the church, a car show by the Pioneer Auto Club and alpacas from the Alpaca Run Farm operated by Earl Khosrovi, organizer Rebecca Cutlip said.

An ice cream social will be held in the church, too, Cutlip said.

"We're also planning to have a couple of members present to answer questions." she said.

Everything is free.

Located at 1400 Washington Ave., the lots for the church were purchased in 1926 and ground was broken on May 1, 1926. The architect was Harry Nay and the contractor was Blair Plate of the Plate Construction Co., both members of the congregation.

Nay was a local architect who designed a home on Washington Avenue and the former pavilion at City Park, Cutlip said. He also designed the Mason County Courthouse.

The church building consisted of 44 rooms. "We have the largest and most beautiful church in West Virginia," said a Feb. 5, 1939, church bulletin.

Membership at the time was 850.

Among the improvements over the years were cleaning and repairs of the exterior, new heating systems, carpets and a movie screen.

While outside the building looks like any other church, inside is where the significance of the architecture can be seen, according to Dave Hawkins, member and event planner.

"It's just a beautiful space," he said.

The congregation precedes the construction of the church and the present location was not the first site or building where it met.

The congregation was formally organized in 1899.

The first meetings of the congregation were in a tent in the late 1887 near Seventh and Wade streets in Parkersburg. Albert Dotson donated a lot in the Lauckport area of South Parkersburg where a small building was built and used for several years.

The property reverted to the original owners. Services were then held in homes in the Lauckport and Marrtown areas and the first deacons were Dotson and Joseph Seevers of Marrtown.

Regular meetings also were held at the courthouse in 1892.

Other meeting places were at Quick Hall at Seventh and Swann streets and at 14th and Lynn streets at St. Marys Avenue where a building was purchased in 1897 by the Ladies Aid at the church. The pastor at that time was Orilas G. White. White began on Jan. 1, 1900, with 11 members in the congregation.

The building at St. Marys Avenue, which was destroyed by fire, was called the roof garden church, Hawkins said. It was the first such design in the United States with the other being in Columbus, Ind.

Services and dinners were held on the roof top, he said. The ladies even had their tea there, he said.

"They were thinking out of the box, weren't they," Hawkins said.

Starting at /week.