741 Jefferson Ave Historic Survey

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Resource Number: 5BL 924 Temporary Resource Number: 157508427001 Carolyn Conarroe further stated in her booklet "A Cloud of Witnesses" that the Methodist Church was also used for public education in that it provided space for overflow classes from the public grade school across the street. She wrote, "Photographs and the Louisville Times history features tell that the north alcove was added in about 1910. This addition provided space for classes from the overcrowded school across the street in what is now Memory Square Park, but the dates of this primary school annex are not certain." The Methodist Church is also known to have had an active Sunday School program. According to Carolyn Conarroe, the direction of the seats was changed in 1937, being turned to face west instead of south. Her booklet "A Cloud of Witnesses" also recounts other physical changes made to the building over time. It should be noted that the statement in the 2000 survey for 741 Jefferson that Charles Welch "had originally homesteaded the land which became Louisville" is now known to be incorrect. As the operator of the first mine, the Welch Mine, he did purchase land in order to expand the Welch Mine, and he also purchased land for residential development. However, Welch did not homestead any land in the Louisville area. Another address found for 741 Jefferson, under Louisville's old address system, was 240 Jefferson. This address appears in the directories from the late 1920s and early 1930s. In other old directories, the church was simply described as being on the corner of Spruce and Jefferson, with no number address given. The 1940 directory is the first one in which the address of 741 Jefferson appears. History of Louisville United Methodist Church For more than 100 years, the Louisville United Methodist Church (LUMC) has held a place at the center of the community. It was incorporated as the Methodist Episcopal Church of Louisville in August 1891, when the land deed on which the church still stands was also filed. The original congregation totaled 29 members. The church building welcomed its first worshipers one year later in a square sanctuary. It had double doors and a round window on the east wall and the pews facing south. A small room on the west side served as a Sunday School classroom and sleeping quarters for visiting student ministers. The north alcove was added in 1910, along with a new entry and bell tower. The old double doors are still visible from the outside. The sanctuary was rearranged in 1937, with the pews facing west. The former pulpit alcove became the choir loft. The round window on the eastern wall was covered, as the light shone directly in the ministers' eyes. The Fellowship Hall was added in a 1941 remodel, and in 1983 the sanctuary was renovated to look like it did in 1892. An extensive, two-story addition was completed in 2000. It added much -needed classrooms, storage and office space, as well as a new kitchen and rest rooms. For much of its early existence, LUMC was served by student ministers, sometimes sharing their services with Lafayette's congregation. The first full-time minister was appointed in 1978. Since its incorporation, the church has been an active member of the community. Louisville's annual Fall Festival began as the church bazaar in 1932, and a tradition of handing out Christmas treats to the town's children was begun in 1910. Today's food basket program was begun in 1982. For a time, the church was used as an annex for the overcrowded public school located across the street (what is now Memory Square Park). Until World War II, the church was at the center of social activities, especially for the town's youth. Sources of Information 6