Today in Wheeling History: August 20--Fourth Street Methodist Church congregation begins worshiping in Clay Junior High School auditorium after its Chapline Street sanctuary is declared unsafe (1950).
In 1949, serious structural damage occurred to Fourth Street Methodist’s third church building on Chapline Street while a commercial structure was being erected on the adjacent lot. The walls and foundation were judged unsafe, forcing the historic congregation—founded in 1785 as Wheeling’s first organized church—to vacate its long‑time sanctuary. Under the leadership of Dr. William Knox, who had become pastor in 1949 after earlier appointments across West Virginia, the congregation arranged to worship temporarily in the auditorium of Clay Junior High School, a modern thirty‑five‑room East Wheeling school complex at Fifteenth and Wood Streets completed during World War II. From August 20 to October 15, 1950, Sunday services and church activities were held in this public‑school setting, reflecting both the congregation’s resilience and the cooperation of the city’s educational authorities. Meanwhile, Fourth Street negotiated the purchase of the 1937–38 Fidelity Building at 11th and Chapline, an Art Deco limestone structure whose interior and mechanical systems were well suited to adaptive reuse as a “Methodist Building.” By late October 1950 the congregation began worshiping there, and on January 1, 1951, it took full legal possession, closing a brief but significant chapter of worship in Clay Junior High’s auditorium.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library - Fourth Street Methodist Church History (https://tinyurl.com/mpk6tawj), Ohio County Public Library - Clay School [2nd & 3rd Ward] (https://tinyurl.com/3cdxf8bf), Historic Wheeling - 1000 Chapline Block (https://tinyurl.com/3p7b8u3b), Wheeling Heritage - 4th Street Methodist Church (https://tinyurl.com/4dwczvxb), Ohio County Public Library - Fourth Street Methodist (https://tinyurl.com/vvp74nx9), The United Methodist Church - West Virginia Conference - Fourth Street UMC (60541) Wheeling West Virginia (https://tinyurl.com/y3z2jvyx), Wheeling Heritage - Wheeling's Historic Churches [brochure] (https://tinyurl.com/3et2k5uc), Flickr - Ohio County Public Library - Fourth Street Methodist (https://tinyurl.com/4zabrr9r)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Historic Wheeling, Steve Novotney, Weelunk
In 1949, serious structural damage occurred to Fourth Street Methodist’s third church building on Chapline Street while a commercial structure was being erected on the adjacent lot. The walls and foundation were judged unsafe, forcing the historic congregation—founded in 1785 as Wheeling’s first organized church—to vacate its long‑time sanctuary. Under the leadership of Dr. William Knox, who had become pastor in 1949 after earlier appointments across West Virginia, the congregation arranged to worship temporarily in the auditorium of Clay Junior High School, a modern thirty‑five‑room East Wheeling school complex at Fifteenth and Wood Streets completed during World War II. From August 20 to October 15, 1950, Sunday services and church activities were held in this public‑school setting, reflecting both the congregation’s resilience and the cooperation of the city’s educational authorities. Meanwhile, Fourth Street negotiated the purchase of the 1937–38 Fidelity Building at 11th and Chapline, an Art Deco limestone structure whose interior and mechanical systems were well suited to adaptive reuse as a “Methodist Building.” By late October 1950 the congregation began worshiping there, and on January 1, 1951, it took full legal possession, closing a brief but significant chapter of worship in Clay Junior High’s auditorium.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library - Fourth Street Methodist Church History (https://tinyurl.com/mpk6tawj), Ohio County Public Library - Clay School [2nd & 3rd Ward] (https://tinyurl.com/3cdxf8bf), Historic Wheeling - 1000 Chapline Block (https://tinyurl.com/3p7b8u3b), Wheeling Heritage - 4th Street Methodist Church (https://tinyurl.com/4dwczvxb), Ohio County Public Library - Fourth Street Methodist (https://tinyurl.com/vvp74nx9), The United Methodist Church - West Virginia Conference - Fourth Street UMC (60541) Wheeling West Virginia (https://tinyurl.com/y3z2jvyx), Wheeling Heritage - Wheeling's Historic Churches [brochure] (https://tinyurl.com/3et2k5uc), Flickr - Ohio County Public Library - Fourth Street Methodist (https://tinyurl.com/4zabrr9r)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Historic Wheeling, Steve Novotney, Weelunk
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