Visit Our Wesleyan
History
Set your GPS
and visit some of the prominent sites of Wesleyan history
VISIT-OUR-HISTORY. This page is in continual
development. Here we offer places of historical importance to the history of the
Wesleyan denomination and enough information for you to set your GPS and find
the site. This page intends to provide only scant historical information (that
is left to the history books and pages on the web) but focuses mostly on the
street address for those who might like to “visit our history” on vacations and
other trips. We hope you will print off this page and tuck it in your glove
compartment. The site is under continual development so you are invited to
offer additional street addresses and better detail on what is located on the
property now. Send your submissions to the wesleyanhistory.org webmaster keith.drury@gmail.com
--Bob
Black & Keith Drury
BARTON
PRICE’S GOOGLE MAP OF HISTORY SITES: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1kIMA3nFVq3Sc6Fa6YMHLc8FGWOLMQ-Fj&ll=41.22825229144633%2C-91.82145109999999&z=4
BETA
DRAFT May 16,
2012
CALIFORNIA
ELMONTE, CA:
Holiness Evangelistic Institute. Site of one of
the Western schools of the Pilgrims,
later named “Western Pilgrim College” and later still merged into what is now
Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, OK. (Two addresses listed in the
archival records: 447 W Klingerman and 2424 N. Hoyt
Av.) (additional street
address and description assistance invited)
PASADENA, CA:
Pasadena Bible Training School (1800 N. Hill Avenue; also 1559 North
Hill Avenue). Location of the new Bible school founded by
Seth Rees after his expulsion from the Church of the Nazarene. Later
came into the Pilgrims when Rees’ Pilgrim Church merged and brought with them
the name “Pilgrim.” (additional
street address and differentiation of the two addresses invited—the 1800
N Hill address is given as Rees’ person address in one archive record and
the1559 address as the school. How is this property used now?)
COLORADO
COLORADO
SPRINGS, CO: Colorado Springs Bible Training School. (540 W.
Monument St. Colorado Springs, CO) Site
of one of the Western schools of the Pilgrim Holiness Church that later merged
into what is now Bartlesville Wesleyan College.
ILLINOIS
WHEATON,
ILLINOIS – Illinois Institute/Wheaton College. (500 College Avenue, Wheaton, IL 60187) Wheaton’s roots in the Wesleyan
Methodists’ short-lived Illinois Institute (Chapter 5) are described in the
college’s archives, which reside on the third floor of the Billy Graham Center
on the edge of the campus and are open to the public.
INDIANA
ANDERSON, IN:
Site of the merging General Conference in 1968. (1100 East Fifth Street Anderson, IN) at
Anderson University. See page [13] in book for photo of the merger march on
this campus.
INDIANAPOLIS,
IN: Former Wesleyan headquarters building: (6060 Castleway
Drive W, Indianapolis Indiana).
Wesleyans moved their headquarters from Marion Indiana to this building
located on I465 in 1987 before relocating later to the present site on Oleo
road. Recently the home of National College.
INDIANAPOLIS,
IN: New Wesleyan Headquarters and Wesleyan Church Archives. (13300 Olio
Road Fishers, IN.) Present site of the Wesleyan Church headquarters and
archives 15 minutes NE of Indianapolis.
FRANKFORT, IN:
Frankfort Pilgrim College and Frankfort Camp meeting site. (704 W Freeman
St
Frankfort,
IN). An early camp meeting grounds for the Pilgrims and host of numerous
General Conferences. A decision to move the denominational headquarters here
once happened but never was implemented.
FAIRMOUNT,
IN: Fairmount camp. (711 E 900 S
[State Road 26] Fairmount, IN) The location of the Fairmount Bible School of the Wesleyan Methodists which
became the core group for starting Marion College in 1919 (now Indiana Wesleyan
University). Beginning in 1907 the Fairmount camp grounds rotated with Houghton
College as the host for Wesleyan Methodist general conferences after the first
decade of the 20th century until merger in 1968.
MARION, IN:
Indiana Wesleyan University. (4201 S Washington St. Marion, IN.) The
Wesleyan Methodists were able to acquire the campus of a teachers college in
Marion in 1919 and founded Marion College brining the faculty and students from
Fairmount Bible College in as the religion department. The only original
building standing is the administration building on Washington Street.
MARION, IN: Former Headquarters building for Wesleyan
Methodists and The Wesleyan Church. (1900 West 50th street,
Marion IN) Now the headquarters for the adult education program of Indiana
Wesleyan University.
KANSAS
MILTONVALE,
KS: Miltonvale Wesleyan College site. “The Western School” of the Wesleyan
Methodists was established in 1909 instantly doubling the population of the
town. The institution merged in 1972 with Bartlesville College (now Oklahoma
Wesleyan University). (Additional street address
and description assistance invited)
Kentucky
KINGSWOOD, KY:
Kingswood Holiness College. An
early Pilgrim college and one of the simultaneous headquarters sites before
1930.
Kingswood, KY is in Breckenridge County about 65
miles SW of Louisville, KY. (additional street address and
description assistance invited)
WILMORE, KY:
Asbury Theological Seminary. (204 North Lexington Avenue Wilmore,
KY.) Wesleyans have had a long standing association with this seminary that
predates the 1968 merger and it continues to hold a preferred status along with
the denomination’s own seminary, Wesley Seminary.
MARYLAND
BALTIMORE,
MARYLAND -- Lovely Lane Methodist Church and Museum. (2200 St.
Paul Street, Baltimore, MD 21218) Lovely Lane Chapel hosted the Christmas Conference
of 1784 which created the Methodist Church in America (Chapter 1) and elevated
Francis Asbury to denominational leadership.
It’s considered to be the birthplace of American Methodism, and its
museum is rich in historical artifacts and archival information. The location above is not the original
location; the church moved in the nineteenth century. A downtown plaque at 206 Redwood Street marks
the spot where it stood in 1784. The
museum is not open every day; call before coming (410-889-4458 or
410-889-1512). While in Baltimore, visit
the gravesite of Francis Asbury in Mt. Olivet Cemetery; E. Stanley Jones is also buried there.
MASSACHUSETTS
SPRINGFIELD,
MA: Orange Scott burial site and Monument. (171 Maple Street, Springfield,
Massachusetts.) Plot: Methodist Grounds Sec 5-D 6-7 #13 (See chapter 3.)
MICHIGAN
ADRIAN, MI:
Adrian College. (110 South Madison Street Adrian, MI.) The Wesleyan Methodist seminary in Leoni, Michigan (founded 1845) merged with the Methodist
Protestant seminary in 1855 due to the anticipation of a merger between the two
denominations (which didn’t happen). Three years later the merged school was
moved to Adrian, Michigan where abolitionist Asa
Mahan was pastor and he became the first President. In 1859 Wesleyan Methodists
incorporated this school though they eventually lost control of the school. The
Adrian college archives possess a significant collection of documents related
to early Wesleyan Methodism. (See historical marker in front of Administration
Building and chapter 6 in THE STORY of
The Wesleyan Church)
ADRIAN, MI:
Laura Smith Haviland Monument. (218 Michigan 52 Adrian, MI.) Located
at the intersection of M-52 and Church Streets.
(See chapter 5.)
ADRIAN, MI:
Laura Smith Haviland burial site. (3552 North Adrian Highway, Adrian,
Michigan.) Northeast of Adrian, MI on Michigan 52 at West
Valley Rd where the Raisin Valley Friends Meeting House is located. The
cemetery is located behind the church. There is a large Haviland monument
listing family names. Laura Smith Haviland is buried at the individual grave
marked “Mother.” (See chapter 5.)
OWOSSO, MI:
Site of Bible Holiness Seminary. (1020 S. Washington St. Owosso,
MI.) Became Owosso College for the
Pilgrims, this institution was designated to become the denomination’s sole
liberal Arts college but soon merged into Indiana Wesleyan University. The
campus is now used by Baker College. The present classroom building is located
where the old tabernacle once stood.
(Don Elliott)
MINNESOTA
WISIOJA, MN: Wisioja Institute, Historical Marker in Wasioja, MN in the tiny hamlet on the south side of county
16. A fire eventually left the building as a ruins. (Wasioja is also
referred to as Dodge Center, MN)
NEBRASKA
ARTHUR NE: Hay
Bale Church. In 1928 when building materials in Nebraska were scarce
this Pilgrim Holiness Church was constructed with bales of straw. Still
standing, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, though The
Wesleyan Church has moved from the site.
NEW
BRUNSWICK, CANADA:
SUSSEX, NB: Kingswood University. (26 Western Street, Sussex, New
Brunswick.) Recently, Bethany Bible
College, this is the only educational institution of the Wesleyans in Canada,
though it serves both Canadian and American students.
NEW
YORK
SYRACUSE, NY:
Luther Lees’ Church. 304 E. Onondaga St,
Syracuse NY. This is the original Wesleyan Methodist Church where Luther Lee
was pastor. This historical site is now a restaurant called “The Mission.” (See chapter 5)
SYRACUSE, NY:
Site of first Wesleyan Methodist Publishing House. Adam Crooks
purchased land right next to Lee’s church in 1874 for a publishing house which becamse the headquarters for the Wesleyan Methodists. See
the photo in chapter [] of the publishing house after it was destroyed by fire.
Note Lee’s church in the corner of the picture to see actual location of the
building in relation to Lee’s church.
SYRACUSE, NY:
Carved faces from the basement slave hideaway in Lee’s church: 321
Montgomery St. Just around the corner
from Lee’s church is the Onondaga Historical Association Museum where the
carved faces from the basement of Lee’s church have been preserved.
UTICA,
NY: Utica Convention of The Wesleyan Methodist Connection. One of the meeting spots (Bleecker Street Baptist
church, formerly Presbyterian) was located on the southwest corner of Bleecker
St and Charlotte St—now a parking lot but has development plans underway
(2012). At this church in 1835 a state anti-slavery convention was held, so the
region and the issue was a common one for Utica even before the Wesleyan
Methodists met here in 1843.
SENECA FALLS,
NY: Woman’s Rights National Historic Park, (visitor’s center at 136 Fall
Street, Seneca Falls, NY.). The restored
Wesleyan Church where this first woman’s rights convention occurred in 1848 is
part of this National Historic Site and is located just east of the visitor’s
center at the corner of Fall Street and Mynderse. (See chapter 4.)
HOUGHTON, NY:
Houghton College, (1 Willard Avenue Houghton, NY.) Established in the 1884
as a secondary school, the college graduated its first class in 1901 and
continues as a Wesleyan school to today, the longest surviving Wesleyan
educational institution. (See chapter 7.)
NORTH
CAROLINA
COLFAX, NC:
Shady Grove Wesleyan (Methodist) Church.
(119 N. Bunker Hill Road, Colfax, NC
27284). Shady Grove Wesleyan is a
thriving congregation of 500 parishioners today whose church sits on hallowed
ground in Wesleyan Methodist history.
Turn off US 421 onto North Bunker Hill Road and look for the church 0.2 mile on your left. In 1851 Jesse McBride was captured by a mob
of 300 men, many of them armed, near the site now occupied by the sanctuary of
Shady Grove. Taking him by force to an
adjacent county, some in the mob wanted to lynch him; another suggested that,
since he was a follower of Jesus, he should be crucified. Eventually the mob
effectively expelled him from the state.
Twenty-one years later, after the Civil War, Adam Crooks was invited
back to Shady Grove to dedicate the first Wesleyan Methodist church built in
the South after the war. (See Chapter
6.) Later Shady Grove became home to the
campgrounds of North Carolina’s Wesleyan Methodists and, after merger, the
North Carolina West District until the grounds were sold. The upscale residential area across the
street from the new church is on the property of the old campgrounds.
GREENSBORO,
NC: Site of Greensboro Bible and Literary School. (Original
address was 900 Silver Run Avenue in Greensboro) Established in 1903
following a revival by Seth Rees, this school became in 1913 The Apostolic
Holiness University then in 1922 the Greensboro Bible and Literary School but
due to financial problems of the depression closed in 1931. A group of
Methodists reopened the school as People’s Bible School in 1932, then the institution became John Wesley College in 1956 and
was then relocated as Laurel University (1215 Eastchester Drive). The old
address above is the site of the original Greensboro school of the Pilgrims. In
2017, John Wesley University merged with Piedmont International University now
located at 420 S Broad Street in Winston-Salem, NC.
KERNERSVILLE,
NC: Southern Pilgrim College. The Pilgrims’ southern school was located
one mile east of Kernersville on US 421.
The address is 900-A East Mountain Street, Kernersville, NC 27284. The site is currently occupied by Dudley
Cosmetology University, which also operates an inn and a conference center on
the former Pilgrim campus. The campus
also once served as the district campgrounds for North Carolina Pilgrims. Just
2½ miles further east on US 421 is the small town of Colfax, a location which
played a significant role in Wesleyan Methodist history. (See COLFAX, NC.)
JAMESTOWN, NC:
Mendenhall Plantation. (603 West Main Street Jamestown, NC.) where
Adam Crooks spent his first night in North Carolina. (See chapter 4.)
SNOW CAMP, NC: (301 Drama
Road, Snow Camp, NC 27349) Original site of Freedom’s Hill Church. Freedom’s Hill, the first Wesleyan church in
the slave-holding South in the turbulent period before the Civil War (see
Chapter 4), originally stood on what is now Sylvan Road in the little town of
Snow Camp, approximately 14 miles from Burlington, NC. A historical marker for Freedom’s Hill
Wesleyan Methodist Church stands in the parking lot of the Snow Camp Outdoor
Theatre (301 Drama Road, Snow Camp, NC 27349) which presents two very popular
and well-done dramas during the summer months – one on the pacifism of the
area’s Quakers during the Revolutionary War (“The Sword of Peace”) and another
on the Underground Railroad in that part of North Carolina (“Pathway to
Freedom”). Adam Crooks, pastor of Freedom’s Hill, is depicted as a teacher in
the local school in “Pathway to Freedom.”
Check the website, www.snowcampdrama.com, for show dates and times. Also in that parking lot are two other
historical markers: one for Micajah McPherson, the
lay member of Freedom’s Hill who was (unsuccessfully) lynched for his opposition
to slavery, and another for Cane Creek Friends Meeting House, the Quaker
congregation which joined with Freedom’s Hill as a station on the Underground
Railroad. Freedom’s Hill actually stood approximately a mile south of the
outdoor theater. DIRECTIONS: Drama Road,
the lane leading into the parking lot, is a loop road, and both ends of it
connect with Sylvan School Road. If you take the western exit from the outdoor
theater’s parking lot (the one closest to Cane Creek Meeting House), turn left
on Sylvan School Road and then right on
Sylvan Road (no “school” in the road name there). Freedom’s Hill stood in a
grove of trees a few hundred yards down Sylvan Road, just past a house on your
left. Another historical marker is
scheduled to be erected at the site itself soon.
OHIO
CINCINNATI, OH: God’s Bible School. 1810 Young St.
Cincinnati, OH. Somewhere near this campus is the birthplace of the International Holiness Union and Prayer
League, an interdenominational movement that would eventually grow into the
Pilgrim Holiness Church. GBS would be a primary influence on the people who
would become Pilgrims for many decades, and though it has continued as an
interdenominational school continues to provide leaders for The Wesleyan
Church. (See chapter 8-9).
PENNSYLVANIA
ALLENTOWN, PA:
Beulah Park Bible School. (1414 East Cedar St.) the Pilgrim
“Eastern Pilgrim College” which would eventually become United Wesleyan College
before closing. The campus is now used by a local church and a Christian high
school.
SOUTH
CAROLINA
CENTRAL, SC:
“Southern Wesleyan University. (907 Wesleyan
Drive, Central, SC). The “Southern School” for the Wesleyan Methodists was
chartered as Wesleyan Methodist College in 1906. (See chapter 10.)
CENTRAL, SC:
Freedom’s Hill church. 720 Wesleyan Drive, Central, SC. This first Wesleyan church in the south is
now restored and has been relocated here to the campus of Southern Wesleyan
University. (See chapter 4.)
South
Dakota
HOT SPRINGS,
SD: Brainerd Indiana School: Location of the “Brainerd Indiana
School” Now Wesleyan Native Ministries.
VIRGINIA
SHACKLEFORDS,
VA: Site of Beulah Holiness Academy. Founded in 1908 on 21 acres of land
by the people who would become Pilgrims. It served along with the Greensboro,
NC school as a southern training school for Pilgrim ministers. (Additional help needed to locate the actual site)
WASHINGTON
SPOKANE, WA:
Spokane Bible School (1717 E Rowan Ave.) Site of the Spokane
school started by the Pilgrims with special interest in church planting and
extension.
WESLEY
SITES IN ENGLAND
(Special Thanks to Rev. Dr. Janet Starks, Kingswood
University)
LONDON: John Bray’s House. (5
Little
LONDON: John Wesley’s Conversion Site (plaque only).
(
There
are also numerous churches in the