Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa pic1

"The Little Brown Church" is a historic church located at 2730 Cheyenne Avenue near

Nashua, Iowa Nashua is a city in Chickasaw County, Iowa, Chickasaw and only partly in Floyd County, Iowa, Floyd counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city's population was 1551 a decrease of 112, or 6.7%, ...

. It was made famous by a song, "

The Church in the Wildwood "The Church in the Wildwood" is a song that was written by Dr. William S. Pitts in 1857 following a coach ride that stopped in Bradford, Iowa. It is a song about a church in a valley near the town, though the church was not actually built until ...

". The structure was completed in 1864.

History

The music about the church was written by Dr.

William S. Pitts William S. Pitts (1830-1918) was an American physician and composer who wrote the well-known song "The Church in the Wildwood" in 1857. Early life in upstate New York William Savage Pitts was born at Lums Corners within the town of Yates in Orlea ...

in 1857 following a coach ride that stopped in Bradford, Iowa. The church is in a valley near the town, though the church was not actually built until several years later. In the years since, the church has become known simply as "the Little Brown Church". When Pitts returned to the area with his wife in 1862 he discovered a church being erected where he imagined it. The congregation had been meeting in various temporary spaces until Rev. J.K. Nutting led the drive to create a permanent home for the congregation. During this period, Pitts had been teaching singing at nearby Bradford Academy and taught his class to sing his song for the first time at the dedication of the church in 1864. Pitts later sold the rights to the song for a nominal sum. After the church closed in 1888 due to economic downturn in the town, the Society For the Preservation of the Little Brown Church was founded. By 1914, services were again held in the building. Shortly afterward, the small congregation experienced a revival that attracted new attention to it and to its song. Among those who found and loved the song at this time was the

Weatherwax Quartet Weatherwax is a: Surname: * Paul Weatherwax, (1900–1960), American cutter * Paul Weatherwax (botanist), (1888–1976), American professor of botany * Seema Aissen Weatherwax (1905–2006), a Ukrainian political activist and photographer * Frank ...

. This group of traveling singers traveled throughout

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

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 ...

in the 1920s and '30s and used as their trademark song "The Church in the Wildwood." They would quite easily talk about the little church during their travels. As the song grew in popularity, coupled with the development of the

U.S. Highway system The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

in the mid-1920s, many visitors came to the newly reopened little church. Since then the church has become a popular tourist spot, and remains so today. It attracts thousands of visitors every year to see or be married in the "little brown church in the vale." The church is currently a member of the

National Association of Congregational Christian Churches The National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC) is an association of about 400 churches providing fellowship for and services to churches from the Congregational tradition. The Association maintains its national office in Oak ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Brown Church Congregational churches in Iowa Churches completed in 1864 Buildings and structures in Chickasaw County, Iowa Tourist attractions in Chickasaw County, Iowa