First United Methodist Church

Clarksburg’s First United Methodist congregation is almost as old as the city itself, having been officially established in 1822. This church is one of five that have stood on or near the site over the past two centuries. The direct predecessor of the current structure was built in 1907. It was a Romanesque Revival building designed by Wilbur T. Mills, a Columbus, Ohio based architect. When the church burned down in 1951, the congregation commissioned Harold E. Wagoner to design a replacement. Wagoner worked out of Pittsburgh and was famous for his Methodist church commissions; he even served on the Methodist Bureau of Architecture board. Wagoner’s design for the current First United Methodist Church is Gothic Revival in style. This is expressed through the pointed arches, crenellated towers, and large expanses of unadorned walls. On the interior, the limestone foundation, stone walls, and oak rafters are beautifully visible. Stained glass windows created in 1965 by the Willet Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania provide splashes of color and light. Though the First United Methodist Church certainly honors a previously established canon of church architecture, features like a slender metal spire help modernize the building.