Original Church Building on Main Street, built in 1843
Church History
Orginal Church Bell
In 2005, the Wellfleet Historical Commission published "A Guide to Monuments, Memorials and Burying Grounds in Wellfleet Massachusetts". The Guide includes a history of the Wellfleet United Methodist Church, reprinted here, with thanks to the Wellfleet Historical Commission. (Photo from Historical Commission Archives.)
"A first Methodist Meeting House was built in 1816 on the site of the present Pleasant Hill Cemetery (see page 35). By 1843 the congregation had grown and relocated to Main Street. This larger Church, which had been extensively remodeled in 1863, was struck by lightning in 1891 and burned to the ground. The original cast steel bell, manufactured by “Naylor Vickery and Co. 1859, of Sheffield E. Riepe’s patent”, survived and was placed on the church lawn. One of the most generous donors to the reconstruction fund was Captain Lorenzo Dow Baker.
On Easter Sunday, 1966, two stained glass windows designed by British artist, Claire Leighton, a Wellfleet resident for many years, were dedicated in memory of the family of Mrs. Annie B. Higgins who sang in the choir; her sister, Annie Higgins Wiley, had been the organist."
Wellfleet United Methodist Church 246 Main Street PO Box 1451 Wellfleet, MA 02667 508-349-7217
