Sharon Methodist Episcopal Church is located in Sharon Township, a rural area of northwest Clinton County, Iowa,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The building is the only remaining structure that remains of a community by the name of Burgess, which was nicknamed Smithtown. The building is commonly referred to as the Smithtown Church. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2003.

History

Sharon Methodist Episcopal Church cemetery

Sharon Methodist Episcopal Church historical marker

The Sharon Methodist Church was incorporated in 1865 in the town of Burgess, which was a crossroads along the Camanche to Anamosa territorial road in northwest Clinton County. Land for a church and cemetery was donated by George Reed, a trustee and local landowner. Burials began in the cemetery soon after, while the church was not built until 1874. The financial depression of the early 1870s made money scarce. In 1875 St. John's Congregation of the German Reformed Church of Sharon Township paid one-fourth of what it cost to build the church to use the building for their services. They, therefore, had use of the church building one-fourth of the time. The Methodist congregation belonged to the Monmouth Circuit of the Upper Iowa Conference of the Methodist Church and was served by ministers from

Monmouth, Iowa Monmouth is a city in Jackson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 129 at the time of the 2020 census. History Monmouth was laid out in 1856. It took its name from Monmouth Township. Geography Monmouth is located at (42.076357, -9 ...

. The Reformed congregation was affiliated with St. Paul's Reformed Church in Wheatland and was served by ministers from that church. The two congregations shared the church building throughout their histories. In 1871 the Sabula, Ackley and Dakota Railroad announced plans to pass through Sharon Township. However, the tracks were to be built two miles south of Burgess. A station was built at Lost Nation and many of the village's business, including the general store, moved there to be near the railroad. The Good Templar Sharon Valley Lodge, a benevolent and charitable organization that promoted

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

, remained active at Smithtown until 1900. It was the two congregations shared commitment to temperance that may have made the Methodists willing to work with the Germans, who were not always accepted. Smithtown Church discontinued regular services in the late 1920s. Thereafter, it was used for special occasions such as funerals and community meetings. The Smithtown Cemetery Association was established in 1929 to care for the cemetery and the church. In 1931 they purchased the property from the Upper Iowa Conference. The cemetery association presented the property to the Clinton County Conservation Board for use as a historical site on August 2, 1970.

Architecture

The building is of wood construction in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

style. It features a central bell tower on the main

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

, where the entrance into the church is located. The tower is topped with a belfry and a short

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

. The side walls of the church contain four rectangular windows with shutters.

References

{{NRHP in Clinton County, Iowa Religious organizations established in 1865 Churches completed in 1874 19th-century Lutheran churches in the United States Italianate architecture in Iowa Churches in Clinton County, Iowa Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Clinton County, Iowa Former Methodist church buildings in Iowa 1865 establishments in Iowa Italianate church buildings in the United States