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Mercer County PAGenWeb |
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First Methodist Church |
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FIRST METHODIST CHURCH
- FARRELL The city of Farrell was first known as South Sharon. A city that grew
from farmlands, swamps and woodland in 1900 to a thriving city of
10,000 people in 1902 when a large steel works costing five million
dollars located in that area. Later the city was renamed Farrell in
honor of James A. Farrell
the president of the United States Steel Corporation. The First Methodist Church of
Farrell had its beginning when two local preachers, J. S. Frantz and E. W. Springer, of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, organized and conducted a Sunday School in
a little Red School House located at the northeast corner of Spearman
Avenue and Roemer Boulevard. The healthy growth of the
Sunday School encouraged Mr. Frantz
and Mr. Springer to
hold preaching services in connection with the Sunday School. This they
did until the church was organized. The Erie Annual Conference in session at Oil City September 10-15, 1902, commissioned Rev. D. C. Plannette to organize the new congregation in South Sharon. The organization ceremony was held on Sunday afternoon October 12, 1902, in Odd Fellow’s Hall, 807 Broadway. |
First Methodist Church, Farrell. Photographed in 1959. |
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Ministers of the Farrell Methodist Church 1902 - 1959 |
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There were seventy-five charter members and
an equal number of probationers most of whom eventually became members. The newly organized
congregation continued to meet in the Odd Fellow’s Hall until January 1903,
with Rev. D. C. Plannette
the pastor.
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- Organ donated in memory of the