Built in 1860, this abandoned one-room church and cemetery are located down a dirt road in central Ohio. The church has unfortunately been left to rot but the cemetery is still minimally maintained. In the cemetery, there are an interesting mix of headstones. Some seem to be in great condition while others are barely legible. Some date back as far as the 1860s while the newest one I saw was from 1951, giving us some idea of when the church either disbanded or moved. As far as the church goes, the floor is full of holes, it has suffered some graffiti, there is a giant crack in the rear wall, the chimney is crumbling and the belfry is rotting. I've made two trips to this church, one in November 2012 and one on Sunday. The only real change I noted between trips was the disappearance of a pile of ceiling tiles. The pictures are a mixture from both trips.
1. The overgrown church. The plaque above the front window identifies the church as being built in 1860.
2. Something that interests me is that the church has two front doors. I've seen this before but never learned the reason. Also, the flag planted next to a grave shows that somebody had been there relatively recently.
3. Here's where I'll tell a short story. The woman in this picture from 2012 is my mom. For awhile, she didn't know about my UE hobby but ended up finding out due to my sister's big mouth. I figured that this would be a good place to take her and show her UE firsthand so maybe she'd quit telling me how dangerous it was. I don't think she enjoyed herself. The only phrases I heard her use were "be careful of that" and "hurry up." On the plus side, this led to a funny picture. I was taking a picture of a headstone that said "Mother" and she just happened to walk into the picture with an irritated expression on her face.
4. The headstone on the left was probably the most impressive and well-maintained in the cemetery. Right next to it is a small stone that I could only read half of.
5. This might be my favorite picture from the outing.
6. The giant crack in the wall at the rear. The brick on the outside is also cracked.
7. I'd bet that this church looked really nice back in its day.
8. There was a pile of bench seats on the floor which is collapsing under them.
9. A hole in the floor of the altar in the rear. It makes me sad that somebody probably stole that flag from a grave and was messing around with it in here.
10. Standing on the altar late in the day.
11. Under the church is a small crawlspace. There wasn't much down there except spiders.
It's small, but this place is one of my favorites. There's something about old rural churches, schools and houses that just elevates them above everything else. Maybe because they were more personal for the people that lived, learned and worshiped there all those years ago. I've been here twice now and probably will continue to return when I'm in the area.