San Luis Obispo County CA Archives Photo Place.....Methodism In San Luis Obispo 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 24, 2006, 12:42 am

Source:             Discovering San Luis Obispo County
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METHODISM IN SAN LUIS OBISPO

History and Description:

The Methodists built the first Protestant church in San Luis Obispo.  Its
history dates from September 22, 1867, the first day on which the California
conference appointed the Rev. A. B. Spooner to the Methodist ministry in San
Luis Obispo.

During its first 100 years in San Luis Obispo the Methodist Church had four
locations. The first location was at the intersection of Marsh and Higuera
Streets.  At a cost of $1400 the church was erected in December, 1869.  The
first service held in the building, then incomplete, was on January 2, 1870.

The idea of building the church so far from the center of the town was to get it
away from the saloons, which made up a large part of the business section. The
distance proved to be an inconvience, so in 1874 preparations were made to move
the church to a lot on Garden Street, in the Mission Vineyard tract. The ladies
of the church, by their own contributions and collections, purchased a bell from
New York, weighing 1000 pounds.  It was placed in the belfry and dedicated on
June 21, 1874.

The bell served the Garden Street Church until 1911, when a new church and
parsonage was built on the corner of Morro and Pacific Streets.  The same bell
was placed in the belfry and dedicated on February 19, 1911.

By 1952, with the continued growth of the church and the population increase in
San Luis Obispo it seemed necessary to build a new church. A four acre tract on
Fredricks Street was purchased for $30,000.

Purchase of the Fredricks Street property initiated a period of expansion and
construction that was to extend over nine years.  The new sanctuary was
consecrated on June 3, 1962, with the original bell that hung in the second church.

Sources:
History of San Luis Obispo County. Myron Angel
Telegram-Tribune. September 16, 1967
Methodist Centential Play. T. C. Hosford


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

Discovering San Luis Obispo County
by
Carleton M. Winslow

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/sanluisobispo/photos/methodis75gph.txt

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