Elmira’s lively congregations move forward from 1912
Elmira’s W.D. Ludwig published this postcard, right, about 1910 and Miss Louisa Knipfel of Petersburg received it in February 1912.
It made me wonder how Ludwig’s four hometown churches fared over the intervening century. So let’s follow the trail. The extra card’s intrusion will become clear as we go counter-clockwise from top left.
Rev. Alexander Gale was a Presbyterian professor at the University of Toronto and some of his students had ministered to Elmira’s Free Church followers in the 1850s. The first Presbyterian church, costing $450 in 1868, honoured Gale. It was built at 2 Cross Street, on land donated by Robert Kenning from County Down, Ireland. Kenning and wife Margaret Walker helped Elmira grow in another way — raising 17 children. Gale Presbyterian was a landmark until April 2012, when the new Barnswallow Drive church opened. In 2018, Gale will host its own 150th celebrations. Technique Dance Studio now occupies 2 Cross Street.
St. Teresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church began in 1848, north of Elmira, in a small frame building where St. Teresa’s Cemetery remains. The congregation moved to a new yellow brick structure in 1889 on Water (now Wyatt) Street. As membership grew past capacity in the 1980s, St. Teresa of Avila’s erected a new home on Flamingo Drive. Many older members insisted that historical artifacts such as stained glass, carved altar and small statues be retained; these have revered places in the current church. The 1889 building on the postcard is now a seniors’ home.
Next in Ludwig’s multi-views is St. James Lutheran. When publishing this card, he little suspected that this — his own — church building would disappear first.
From 1850 until a small log structure was erected in 1857, local Lutherans met in homes and rented buildings. Among the midcentury pastors was Rev. Jacob Werth, who lived in St. Jacobs and supplemented his ministerial pay by making and selling his popular coffee extract.
Trouble was brewing, however, with the next pastor, Rev. H.W.H. Wichman. He had been serving the Floradale congregation and took over St. James for just a few months. As a supporter of the Missouri Synod, he departed with 22 families to form St. Paul’s Lutheran in 1861. St. James, in the Lutheran Synod of Canada, was left with a small membership. But by 1869 had a new church (as shown on the postcard) at 60 Arthur St. S. It lasted 45 years; but as Elmira grew in the early 20th century, so too did the St. James congregation. April 26, 1914 was its final Sunday. Once services ended, demolition began and a new church rose quickly to be dedicated in 1915. With numerous additions and renovations, it continues to serve many Elmira Lutherans.
In the top right corner is the Evangelical Association Church. During the mid-1860s, Evangelicals began worshipping in Elmira. Their first building, shown here, went up in 1870 and was used until 1964 — by which time the congregation had become Zion Evangelical United Brethren. A new building opened on the same site, 21 Arthur North, in June 1964 and four years later Zion joined the United Church as Zion United.
Now, we must backtrack to Elmira’s Methodists. John Wesley’s local followers first met in 1836, were officially organized in 1848 and grew rapidly in an 1855 log building titled Church Street Methodist Church. In 1873, the larger brick building seen on the separate postcard was constructed on Arthur Street North and the congregation became Wesley Methodist. Five decades later, many Canadian Methodist churches joined Congregationalists and some Presbyterians to form the United Church, thus Wesley United. After a new building went up in 1960 at Arthur South and First streets, the 1873 structure was sold and demolished. In 1971, Wesley United and Zion United merged, becoming Trinity United Church and moving to Zion’s 1964 building at 21 Arthur North. Wesley United’s 1960 building was sold and is now home to Emmanuel Evangelical Missionary Church.
Today, W.D. Ludwig would find all these congregations in some form but not in any of the buildings on his postcard.
In October 2015, Flash from the Past featured William D. Ludwig: https://www.therecord.com/ living-story/5959333-flash-fromthe-past-go-window-shopping-onelmira-s-main-street/