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Old church is window to Auburn history
(by Joan Demirjian - May 18, 2011)
Old church is window to Auburn history
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
Visitors walk through the arched doorway at the old Free Will Baptist Church in Auburn, and they are taken back to the 1800s.
Built in 1840 by the Free Will Baptist Church, its original features have been preserved. "Everything is pretty much original," Auburn Township Trustee Patrick J. Cavanagh said in a tour of the building.
Owned by the township, it is being used for a museum so everyone can experience a part of Auburn's history, he said.
Located on East Washington Street, just west of Auburn Corners, it is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Auburn resident Jean Fugman attended the church as a child. Her great grandparents Julia Richards and William Maynard were married there in 1845. Julia Maynard established a singing school at the church as well as at the district schoolhouse, which stood where Shadyside Cemetery is now.
A shelter for church members' horses stood to the back of the church, however, it is long gone, Mrs. Fugman said.
"My cousins and I were confirmed at the church by the Rev. Henshaw from Chagrin Falls in the 1930s," she said.
"The church had a bell and we could hear it at our house." She still lives in the house on Munn Road.
Her mother, May Davis, played the piano at the church and at the Congregational Church at Auburn Center.
Later, the Congregational Church, located at Auburn Center, used the building in the summer for Sunday services in the 1930s. The Methodist Church had also used it in the 1800s, Mrs. Fugman said.
There was a parsonage to the east of the church, but it was torn down many years ago, Mr. Cavanagh said.
The church was converted to a museum by the township in 1973. Members of the Auburn Community Club conducted some of the repairs in the 1970s, he said.
In 2007, the building underwent extensive renovations by the township, Mr. Cavanagh said. Every effort was made to preserve its historic features. The flooring, 10-inch wide planks, were picked up and numbered, and then replaced after the foundation was fixed, he said.
Old beams in the foundation had to be replaced, and posts and beams from a barn were used, according to Mr. Cavanagh.
A pulpit was also taken apart and numbered and then carefully replaced after the foundation work was done.
"We bid out the work, but it was so intricate, we had to go to a sole-source provider," he said. Gordon Peterson did the work.
Wiring was done in the 1940s or early 1950s, Mr. Cavanagh said. There are seven multi-pane windows that are about 10 feet high. A rear door is believed to have once been a window.
"It was in bad shape but it's sound now," Mr. Cavanagh said of the building. Cabinets and display cases from a store are displayed in the museum along with other donations of antiques.
Township Trustees have talked of moving the historic building to the township's Adam Hall property, also on East Washington Street. However, if it is moved from its original foundation, it would be removed from the National Register of Historic Places, Mr. Cavanagh said.
Cost to move it has been estimated at $25,000 to $30,000.
Because there are no water or restroom facilities, the building is open to the public only once a year, on Memorial Day.
The Memorial Day event starts at 9 a.m. May 29 at Mapleshade Cemetery at Auburn Center.
The ceremony will proceed to Shadyside Cemetery across from the museum. Afterward, everyone can walk over to the museum for coffee and other refreshments, Mr. Cavanagh said.
"It's a wonderful building," he said. "I'd like to see it used more."
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