Timeline Russellville United Methodist Temple

1792-  Logan County formed

1800-  Height of Great Revival/Second Great Awakening, centered in Logan County where first camp meetings were held at three Presbyterian churches. Many churches had their beginning as an outgrowth of the Revival.

1808-  Methodist Society of ten members organized in a frame house on the corner of 4th (then center) and Spring streets. Oldest congregation in Russellville. Met in homes for about ten years.

c.1818-  First church building brick, Summer street facing 8th (then Bibb) partially funded and on land given by Major Richard Bibb, Revolutionary War soldier, Methodist minister, emancipator.

1854- Red Brick building with steeple completed at 7th and Main streets-present site

1868 -Logan Female College, supported by Methodist Church, established from earlier beginnings; closed 1931 because of Great Depression. Building on site of original church.

1868- Parsonage completed.

1917- Extensive remodeling of church: vestibule, memorial stained glass windows, front columns added; stucco over brick. Name "Temple" acquired because a newspaper said it looked like a temple. Pipe organ installed, first in Russellville churches. Funds raised by women of the congregation were matched by grant from Andrew Carnegie.

1929 -Left wing annex constructed.

1962- Educational building added, Barclay Chapel created

1973 -New electric organ; original pipes kept as architectural heritage.

1983- Church history written by Rena Milliken on its 175th year anniversary, the 200the year of Methodism in America. Next 25 years updated as introduction to 2008 Bicentennial Membership Directory.

1996- Historical Marker erected in front of Church.

2008- Bicentennial celebration- special exhibits and activities each month; homecoming August 24. Sanctuary renovation and altar/choir area expansion completed.

2011- New piano made possible through special memorials by several church families and donations by members of the congregation

Methodism has been in Logan County for over 200 years. The Church that is now UMT was founded in 1808. It became a station (stand alone congregation) in 1824. The present sanctuary was finished in 1854. The parsonage which stands next to the church was built in 1867 and is one of the oldest continually lived in parsonages in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A major renovation of the church was done in 1917 in which the stained glass windows and pipe organ were added. It is in 1917 after a remark from a reporter from Nashville that the church came to be known as the Methodist Temple. In 1963 the Educational Building was added. The Bicentennial of the UMT was celebrated in 2008.