3925 Main St., Middleburg, Florida. County/parish: Clay.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places March 09, 1990. NRIS 90000318.
1 contributing building. 1 contributing site.Also known as:
The Black Creek Methodist Church, formerly known as the Methodist Episcopal Church at Black Creek and Middleburg United Methodist Church, is an historic church in Middleburg, Florida, United States. On March 9, 1990, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Black Creek Methodist Church, was organized in 1823. Families first met in each other's homes and their pastor was a circuit rider. He came by horseback and visited every month or so depending on his circuit, the weather, and the Indians.
The property where the historic church now stands was deeded in 1847 by John Schuefler. George Branning donated the lumber and the labor. The church has wide clapboards on the exterior and wide random-width tongue and groove boards on the inside. Nails were made by hand at a local blacksmith shop and can still be seen in the pews. The pews are mahogany and were finished by hand with a drawknife. Mahogany is not a native wood so it was brought in by steamboat. The bell, hanging in the steeple was cast in 1852 and purchased in New York by George Branning. Its first official tolling was the death of George Branning's son.
Early service at 8:30 is still held in the Historic Church, making it the oldest continuous used Methodist Church in Florida.
Other parcels of land were donated or purchased through the years. The Budington Building, a hospital ward from Camp Blanding, was donated by the Budingtons in 1951. The Sanctuary was completed in 1983 and the Family Life Center in 2004.
(read more...)National Park Service documentation: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77841040