Extended notes on State Street Methodist Episcopal Church (now Christ Church United Methodist) and the buildings and congregations that came from it.
1852 – North Troy Methodist Episcopal Church: Grace (Vail Avenue) Church, Troy.
“… a number of Methodists began holding meetings of prayer and exhortation in the school-house in the tenth ward of the city, and they organized themselves on May 15, 1852, as a society known as ‘the Methodist Episcopal Church in North Troy’. The schoolhouse was on Glen Avenue (...) The first meeting-house of the society was erected in 1858 on the west side of Vail Avenue, between Douw Street and Turner’s Lane, and was dedicated on December 10th of that year.” (Hillman, p.112)
The third sanctuary of the “mother” church on State Street (now Christ Church, United Methodist) still stands, the same site being used for all 3 buildings. In South Troy, the church currently standing where members from State Street Methodists seeded a congregation, bears similarity in layout to the original church, but brick replaced wood long ago. In the case of Vail Street we can still see the original brick building of 1858 – once you know what to look for…
Grace Methodist Church, was the final name of several names for this congregation, and the final name came with its construction of a large brick church and parsonage complex half a block south of the 1858 building. This imposing structure was being built, but not yet opened, at the time of publication of Hillman’s book. The corner-stone was laid on August 16th, 1888, and the church was dedicated on Sunday, June 2nd, 1889. It stood on the corner of Douw and Vail Streets (now 6th Avenue) half a block north of the (now closed) St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church.
The origins of the congregation go back to a Sunday School class in 1843 in unknown premises but in the 1840’s moved into the district school house on Turner’s Lane ( now Glen Avenue.) In 1852, Hillman records that some of the Methodists who had been worshiping moved form a congregation at the site, and elected trustees, including Titus Eddy and Oliver Boutwell.
By 1888 this congregation had 506 members, and was about to move to its new building, build a second and larger parsonage and later had plans to expand upon the site behind it to create community rooms.
In the 20th century, the church became known for a walking club started by one of its more popular pastors, and it received publicity for their various climbs of the Adirondack Peaks. If you have family history in the congregation, this club especially made the newspapers on a number of occasions.
Sadly, the building was gutted by fire shortly after it had celebrated its 75th anniversary. Some of the members came back to State Street, others choosing to attend the Methodist Church in Lansingburgh, then known as St. Mark’s. The lot where it stood remains empty, to this day.
However, the 1858 building, photographed below in 2024, can still be seen at 3165 Sixth Avenue, and its original purpose glimpsed above the facade and down the side of the building. These photographs shows the 1852 building, in use by the current family business for over 60 years, and secondly, its proximity (extreme right) to the 1888 building which was – not as previously stated – on a large empty lot behind a man in a bright orange top, but across the road from him, on the east side of the road, behind a large garden fence, just north of the junction of 6th Avenue and Douw Street.. The towers of the former St. Patrick’s RC Church are beyond the location of Grace Church and on the opposite side of the street: south and west of the Grace lot. I am gratefl for people helping me correct the post
This congregation also used the following names: Batestown Mission; Methodist Episcopal Church of N. Troy; North Troy ME Church, Vail Avenue ME Church before becoming Grace Methodist Episcopal Church of Troy, N.Y. in 1888 (Hillman, p 112).
Turner’s Lane is now known as Glen Avenue, and Vail Street is Sixth Avenue, Troy.
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