First United Methodist Church (also known as First Methodist Church) is a historic

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

church building at the northeast corner of 18th Street and Central Avenue in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...

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. The congregation was founded in 1867. The church building at 18th and Central was constructed in 1890 and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1975.

History

The Reverend W. W. Baldwin, a circuit rider from Colorado, led the first Methodist church services in Cheyenne on September 29, 1867 in City Hall. Three months later the

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

railroad tracks reached the new town. The Methodist Society was soon formed with nine members and a local physician, Dr. D. W. Scott, acted as the first minister. The Reverend A. Gather arrived in 1868. Two years later the Society bought two lots at 18th and Central Avenues from the Union Pacific for $1.00 and lumber for a white frame church was ordered from Chicago. The church was dedicated by Bishop Ames on September 23, 1871. In 1874 Black members withdrew from the congregation and built an African Methodist Episcopal Church four blocks west. Construction on the current church, made out of red sandstone, began in 1890 and the church was dedicated on Easter Sunday, 1894. It had 55 members at the time. While the new church was being built on the original lots, the old frame church was moved into the middle of Central Avenue with services being held in the building for the next two-and-one-half years. On March 5, 1876, the Methodist minister Reverend Warren married

Wild Bill Hickok James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, reconnaissance, scout, lawman, cattle rustler, gunslinger, gambler, s ...

and Agnes Thatcher Lake, a 50-year-old circus proprietor at a nearby residence. Five months later Wild Bill was shot dead in

Deadwood, South Dakota Deadwood (Lakota: ''Owáyasuta''; "To approve or confirm things") is a city that serves as the county seat of Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was named by early settlers after the dead trees found in its gulch. The city had its ...

Architecture

Architect J. P. Julien designed the new church which was built by Moses Patrick Keefe for $25,000. Furnishings cost an additional $5,000. The two-story semi-Gothic church is constructed of Wyoming red sandstone with a steeply-pitched roof and a three-story tower with a pyramidal roof and four small turrets. As originally built the church measured approximately 91 feet in length by 55 feet and held 750 worshipers. In 1928, an addition to the rear extended the length to 126 feet. The width was extended to the east in 1950 to a total width of 60.4 feet. Twenty-seven stained glass windows were added around 1900.

References

External links

Official Website of the Congregation
{{National Register of Historic Places Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Churches completed in 1890 19th-century Methodist church buildings in the United States Churches in Cheyenne, Wyoming United Methodist churches in Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Cheyenne, Wyoming

History

Architecture

See also

References

Further reading

External links