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In 1890 a plan for the Town of St. Paul was laid out by engineer J.O. Magruder. He revised the current map. Shortly after this event, on February 15, 1893, a deed concerning lots 6 and 7, Block 13, of the Magruder plat was recorded in the Courthouse in Wise. This deed conveyed the property from Mr. and Mrs. Moon to the owenership of the congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Church of St. Paul. These lots are situated at a spot near the present home of Hazel and the late Basil Wright on Wise Street. This is where the first Methodist Church in St. Paul was built. It was a small church, consisting of only one room. It wasn’t too many years after the original construction that the congregation had outgrown the original church. In a second deed, dated January 6, 1910, Lots 1 and 2, Block 12 (the corner of Wise Street and Fifth Avenue) were conveyed to the current Trustees of the Church. The white frame church, which was built on this site, was used as the main sanctuary until 1960. The first weddings in this church were those of Dora Greear to N.D. Speiden in 1911 and Lora Hillman to Percy Hancock in 1912. Both of these young ladies were daughters of charter members of the church. Two additional lots, adjacent to the two corner lots, were purchased by the Church in 1923, according to a deed dated September 23, 1923. The Trustees noted on that deed included J.N. Greear, E.S. Hurt and J.M. Hillman. Continued growth blessed the St.Paul Methodist Church and building began once again. In 1959 a building fund was established. Construction on the present brick building began in the Spring of 1960. The first service was held in November 1960 and the first wedding was that of Linda Walters and Paul Elking on June 9, 1961. The dedication of the building, which marked payment in full of all notes and mortgages, wes conducted on August 21, 1966 by Bishop Ellis Finger. Through a merger with the Evangelical United Brethern Church in 1968, the Methodist Church became the United Methodist Church. Thus this church received its thrid name: St. Paul United Methodist Church. In June of 1982, members and friends of St. Paul United Methodist Church pledged in excess of $40,000 to be used for the construction of an educational building. Ground was broked for this new addition on June 27, 1982. This building, connecting to the 1960 structure, was erected on the site of the white frame church building, which had stood since 1911. The educational building was completed in December 1982 with grants from the Holston Conference and the Big Stone Gap District assiting in the final payment for the building, which totaled $43,891.11. A special service to dedicate the building was held on January 9, 1983 with Bishop H. Ellis Finger presiding. Assisting in the service were the Rev. J. Robert Smith, Big Stone Gap District Superintendent and the Rev. Harry W. Hight, Jr., pastor. The parsonage was purchased from Dominion Bank in 1985, with the mortgage being paid completely in 1989. The dedication for this house was held during the morning worship service on Sunday, October 1, 1989. Bishop Clay F. Lee officiated that service. He was assisted by the Rev. Cabel W. Trent, Superintendent of the Big Stone Gap District, and the Rev. Charles E. Dixon, pastor. The Church Trustees named in that 1893 deed are as follows: B.F. Bickley C.J. Bickley J.H. Dickenson B.P. Fink J.N. Greear W.N. Fields Others who are named as original members of that congregation are: Elizabeth Bickley M.H. Bickley Malissa J. Bickley Mary E. Bickley Irene Bickley Euna Blizzard C.E. Branson Rebecca Branson Carrie Broadwater Mary Carty Sarah V. Cleek Amanda M. Earnest Nora E. Fink Bessie B. Greear Ella M. Hilemna J.M. Hileman Sally Hileman Ellen M.Jessee Virginia B.Lee Chloe Osborne C.M. Quillen Mary E. Taylor Susan Taylor 1910 Trustees J.M. Hileman J.N. Greear J.E. Duff P.H. Holbrook C.C. Bolton Pastors 1895 E.L. Addington 1896 L.O. Adams 1899 T.A. Jordan 1900 F. Alexander 1904 F.D. Strader 1906 W.H. Troy 1910 E.L.. Addington 1911 S.T.M. McPherson 1916 J.E. Spring, P.C. 1917 J.M. Paxton 1919 E.C. Jessee 1921 J.A. Early 1924 W.C. Thompson 1926 E.N. Woodard 1927 Sam L. Jones 1928 Edward T. Gilmer 1931 Courtland Jouralman 1932 C.A. Pangle 1934 L.R. Hankins 1938 Z.D. Holbrook 1941 S. Harry Auvil 1944 W.S. Barbery 1945 D.W. Donaldson 1946 Roy Wampler 1948 D.B. Wright 1949 W.V. Pierce 1952 Robert C. Gillespie 1958 C.E. McFarland 1960 Leonard Bates 1961 J. Vance Eastridge 1964 W.S. Gamble 1965 Robert A. Pardue 1970 F. Max Allison 1973 Barney S. Pitsinger 1977 P. Orlando Salazar 1981 Harry W. Hight, Jr. 1984 Charles Dixon 1990 Ronald Burgess 1991 Lewis E. Weaver 1994 Eddie Noe 1996 Larry Rye 2001 Jeffrey Taylor 2003 |