Now situated at the corner of Chestnut Street and Westchester Drive, Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church had its beginnings when a small group of Methodists under the leadership of Peter Doub, one of Methodism's most famous circuit riders, built a one-room church on what was to become Washington Street in a town as yet unincorporated in 1856. This first congregation numbered seventeen people, seven males, and ten females. The congregation grew, and a second church was erected on the same site between 1888 and 1890. Known as Washington Street Methodist Episcopal Church South, this church housed the congregation until 1915 when a third church was built on North Main Street, and the name was changed to Wesley Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South in honor of Methodism's founder John Wesley. Membership continued to grow, and the site on North Main Street was landlocked, so in 1953 a tract of land was purchased on Chestnut Street. Construction was begun in 1958 on the Chapel and the Administrative/Education wing and was completed and occupied in 1960. By 1968 the present sanctuary had also been built and occupied. That same year the name was changed to Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church due to the national merger of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren. From its earliest years, Wesley Memorial has been a mission-oriented church supporting local and foreign missions. That continues today as members help in all phases of local food pantries, clothing closets, after-school tutoring projects, and feeding the homeless and hungry. Members have traveled to Haiti, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Kenya, and many places in this country, helping to do whatever it takes to make people's lives better. It is a concerned, caring, and loving church for all people.
