Our Early History

The history of the First United Methodist Church of Decatur can be traced almost to the beginning of the City of Decatur,AL. When the Alabama Territory was founded on March 1, 1817, there were already three hundred families living in this area south of the Tennessee River. In the beginning the settlement was known as Rhodes Ferry. In 1820 the community was renamed for the American Revolutionary War hero Stephen Decatur.

Early efforts of the Methodist church were concentrated around a camp meeting ground near Trinity. Just exactly when Methodism came to Decatur, no one knows. Decatur became a Methodist preaching place on the Franklin or Lawrence Circuit in the early 1820’s. The first regular Methodist preaching in Decatur was done by Alexander Sales and John B. McFerrin in 1827.

The church was officially organized in 1834 and the first building for the Methodists was erected in Decatur in 1835. It was a brick building that because of a gallery, had the appearance of a two story structure. The gallery intended for the accommodation of slaves, extended around both sides and the front. During the Civil War the church was used by Union and Confederate troops as a hospital and camping site. Before the end of the war the building was burned and the Methodists and Presbyterians met together in a log house until another church was built.

In 1868 a new church was built on the lot where the present building stands. This church was completed in a period of six weeks. In 1876 a cupola and vestibule were added. In 1898, this building was placed on rollers and moved across to the east side of Canal Street to make room for the new church.