Little Stranger Church
by Lynn Sprowl
Title
Little Stranger Church
Artist
Lynn Sprowl
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Little Stranger Church by Lynn Sprowl.
Oldest wooden church in Kansas
On December 3, 1867, Little Stranger Christian Church purchased the two acres of land on which the building currently stands, for thirty dollars. The congregation constructed its the church in early 1868. According to handwritten accounts, the cottonwood lumber used for the construction of the church was cut from neighboring farms and prepared in a local sawmill; no professional carpenters were hired. Church members donated money for furniture and finishing lumber and came together to construct the building using their own tools. The first service was held on May 12, 1868 with 85 people in attendance67 by a Christian congregation that had moved from Farley, Missouri when Kansas was opened for settlement. The first worship service was held May 12, 1868. That fall, the first two graves were made in the cemetery.
In 1908, there was a big celebration in honor of the fiftieth year of the establishment of the church. In 1919, the State Board of Health ordered all public meeting places to close due to the flu epidemic. After WWI ended, interest in the church had apparently dwindled, perhaps because some of it’s core members had joined the army, and it was not re-opened.
A decade passed. The building stood deserted and was considered a blemish in the community. In the summer of 1929, the 4-H Club was looking for a place to hold a play. The community came together to renovate and reopen Little Stranger Church. Debris was cleared, windows were replaced, and steps were rebuilt. Families donated money, furniture, a stove, and other items. In 1931, a Sunday School was organized which helped in the upkeep and further improvement of the building.
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August 25th, 2017
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