Lithonia First United Methodist Church was established on 14 October 1860 as Lithonia Methodist Episcopal Church, South, with the Reverend Newdaygate B. Ousley serving as first pastor. As with so many Georgia churches, Lithonia UMC began services in a brush arbor and then built a one-room meeting house for services. In 1911, the present structure was dedicated and has served the congregation ever since. It was designed by local born architect John Parks Almand and used local Lithonia granite in its design. Almand left Georgia soon after he designed this church and began his practice in Little Rock, Arkansas. [Interestingly, this church does not appear on most lists of Almand’s work. I don’t know the reason for this oversight.]

Lithonia Historic District, National Register of Historic Places & Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area