The first religious meetings in this area were held by the Reverend Richard Parriot, an early Methodist Circuit Rider, in 1791 near the Wilber Messemer residence. The Charge was then known as the Northumberland Circuit. Just six years after the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in Baltimore in 1784 the Northumberland Circuit was formed, the preachers being Richard Parriot and Lewis Browning. Their field of labor extended from Wilkes-Barre, down the north branch of the Susquehanna River to Northumberland, thence up the west branch to Lock Haven, thence up the Bald Eagle Creek to a point four miles above Milesburg, including White Deer Hole, Penn’s and Buffalo Valley. The appointments were filled every two weeks. Each man made the rounds in four weeks, preaching every day, unless the distance between the preaching places was too great to be traveled in one day. The Circuit could not have been less than three hundred miles around. Their labor, though severe, seems to have been a success, for at the end of the year they reported 250 members.
In 1806 the Northumberland Circuit was divided, and all the portion west and south of the town of Northumberland was called Lycoming. At the time of the division the membership consisted of 523 persons. Lycoming Circuit was divided at Quenashaqua Creek near Linden in 1842, the lower end retaining the name. The upper end was called West Branch and embraced Nippenose Valley, Wayne Township, Clinton County, Dunnsburg, and extended up Pine Creek to Waterville; the next year it was extended to English Center. The West Branch Circuit was changed to Jersey Shore Circuit in 1845. Sometime between 1845 and 1866 some of the churchs of the Jersey Shore Circuit were put on the Newberry Circuit. In 1866, Mt. Zion, with Emery’s Salladasburg, “Formerly of the Newberry Circuit; and English Center, Summit and Brookside, of the English Center Mission” were formed into the Salladasburg Circuit. Cogan School House was added a year later. In 1868, Lycoming Chapel, Crescent, Trout Run and Linden were added. In 1869 the first three just named were dropped to join a newly formed Williamsport Circuit. In 1871 Susquehanna was made the headquarters for a new charge; taken away for this circuit was Summit, Cogan (Larryville), Mt. Zion, Linden and Emery’s. Emery’s Church burned in 1885. The people became demoralized and the appointment was dropped. Linden remained a part of the charge until 1946.
Mt. ZION
Mt. Zion was built on its present site in 1843. Trustees were John Knox, William Tachberry, John King, William King and Edward Hughs Russel. The cost of the building was approximately $650.00 according to the financial statement which is in possession of the church. This statement, now framed, is dated November 4, 1843. It was presented to the church by H. H. Russel, who was a great-grandson of John Knox. Much of the actual work on the building was evidently donated labor.
The land on which the building was erected was given to the church by Adam King and his wife, Phoebe. It was deeded to the Trustees for five dollars. One year later, June 24, 1884, the deed was made and signed.
In its early years the church was called St. Catheran Church, and a plaque reading, “A gift in memory of my wife Catheran Steward Knox, from her husband Joh,” was hung over the entrance inside the door. Soon, however, the name was changed to Mt. Zion.
Originally, the church looked much as it does today, except that when it was built it had no vestibule. The vestibule was added in 1885. The combination frosted and stained glass windows were installed in 1906. In 1968 the church was raised and a basement added, and a new and larger vestibule was built.
LARRYVILLE
The Larryville Church was organized in 1864, the first minister being the Reverend M. K. Foster. The presiding elder at that time was the Reverend B. B. Hamlin. It is supposed that the worship services were held in the school house since the record stated that the church building was erected in 1872. The cost of the building was $2,500.00 and it was built during the pastorate of the Reverend James Wilson. The Reverend James Curns was the presiding elder and it was he who dedicated the church and used for the text of his sermon, Philippians 2:9-11. The land on which the church was built was bought from Isaac B. Bardo by the Trustees who were: John M. Thomas, Jacob Guinter, Henry Pepperman, John Cowden, and Matthew Marshall. The deed was recorded December 28, 1872. The purchase price was $180.00.
Blessed with a growing congregation, by 1963 the church had an overcrowded sanctuary. Then, under the ministry of Reverend E. R. Raycroft, the administrative board authorized the Trustees to make plans for a front addition to the building in the summer of 1964.
The addition was completed as follows: a basement classroom and stairs, a convenient attractive vestibule, additional sanctuary space, and an upstairs room with glass doors which open into the auditorium. On the outside, a front canopy shelter was added.
In August 972, the church purchased the Margaret Gohl property at a gift price of $5,000.00. The Winkleman property as purchased in 1985.
SALLADASBURG
The first society of Methodists was formed in Salladasburg in the fall of 1826, when the meetings were held in a home. In 1834 they moved to the school house. The first church was built in 1848 but as a result of a great revival held in 1871, it was necessary to build the present building, which was dedicated on February 4, 1872. In 1878 when the congregation was only six years old, a financial crisis forced the sale of the property to M. P. Hepburn for $1,300.00 However it was soon repurchased at a cost of $2,000.00. In 1960 a new education unit that blends with the rural type architecture of the church was added. In 1986 the building was repainted in grey, gold, and blue colors to recapture what the church looked like at the “turn of the century.” In 1967 when the Methodist-Evangelical United Brethren union took place, the former Bethany EUBN congregation voted to join the Salladasburg congregation.
MINISTERS WHO HAVE SERVED IN THIS AREA Since Salladasburg Became a Circuit in 1866:
1866-69 John Guss
1869-72 George Leidy
1872-75 James WIlson
1875-78 Henry Wilson
1878-81 Andrew Taylor
1881-83 James Hunter
1883-85 William A. McKee
1885-8 M. P. Crosthwaite
1888-91 Alexander Lamberson
1891-94 R. L. Armstrong
1894-95 J. W. Feight
1895-98 W. W. Reese
1898-1900 A. W. Decker
1900-3 J. H. Morgart
1903-07 Sam Ham
1907-11 F. W. Roher
1911-13 M. P. Bubb
1913-15 William E. Ruth
1915-19 T. J. Fulton
1919-22 M. H. Crawford
1922-25 Adam Sommer
1925-28 George Reidell
1928-31 Howard Fitzgerald
1931-33 James Hurlbutt
1933-35 Fred B. Norris
1935-38 William E. Holley
1938-42 R. L. Fritz
1942-45 W. F. Glenn
1945-49 Davifd Downin, Jr.
1949-54 Robert E. Fleck
1954-57 Lewis Stone, Sr.
1957-59 Paul Rowland
1959-60 John Jameson
1960-61 Ralph Richardson
1961-62 Lynn Buttorf
1962-65 E. R. Raycroft
1965-78 Norman E. Huff
1978-80 NBruce Bardine
1980-84 Daniel Long
1984- Barry C. Robison
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