The origins of Methodism in Ashburn date to 1888, when a Mission Sunday School was formed. By 1895, five separate mission churches came together as one congregation and worshiped in a wood frame sanctuary (built circa 1891 and now in commercial use). Though the National Register of Historic Places Nomination form gives a contradictory date (1917) for the present structure’s construction, I’m using the more recently cited date of 1911, from the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Land was given by James Simon Shingler (1859-1943), Ashburn’s leading citizen of the era and a devout Methodist, who brought in dirt to build up the hill so the church could be seen throughout Ashburn. Macon architect Peter E. Dennis, of the firm Dennis & Dennis, was a close personal friend of J. S. Shingler and was responsible for the design of this church, as well as the most prominent homes in the Shingler Heights neighborhood.
Shingler Heights Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The church offices are across the street, usually open Monday through Friday in the mornings. I’d think they’d gladly give you a tour to take photographs. I work with BHSGA and take the crew there every week to clean. It is an amazing church.
The inside of the church was beautiful before they remodeled it in the ’60’s. They covered granite floors and ornate woodwork with cheap carpet & ugly pine paneling. The ceilings were lowered, too. This was the basement of the church where I went to Sunday school when I was a little girl. They later took out the beautiful stained glass in the ceiling of the sanctuary and all but one of the balconies. It is still pretty, but they should have left it alone. My Mother still goes there and so do I, sometimes.
My memory of Ashburn UMC comes from the early 1990s, when my college choir sang there one Sunday evening. The pastor said that there were probably witches in Salem, Massachusetts, in the 1690s, so the witch hunts were somewhat justified. Obviously, he knew far too little about those events.
But, on the positive side, the interior is beautiful.
Beautiful and old symbol of Christian faith, and a grand legacy left by her fore-fathers.
Thanks, Tom!
Do you have any interior photos of this church? Would love to see it.
I don’t at this time, Trish, but I’d love to get inside and photograph it soon! Thanks for following Vanishing South Georgia, and for your shared love of our history.