The Known History: Rev. Jesse Lee gave a number of sermons on Nantucket, converting many locals to Methodism before being appointed chaplain of the US Senate in 1814. The local Methodists then held church service outdoors on Mill Hill until in 1800, a small church was built. But it was small and the other new island churches dwarfed it in size and grander thanks in part to the extreme wealth the whaling industry was bringing the island at the time. And so a new Methodist Church was built in 1823 for $14,000, it was enormous and impressive and completed just as the Nantucket economy began to take a dive.
Signs Point to North Carolina: In the last two years new discoveries have been made about Nantucket’s Methodist Church’s history. Evidence has surfaced suggesting the structure was imported. Recent testing done on the 12X12 beams inside the main chapel date the wood back to the 1760s from trees native to North Carolina. The buildings three main doors and dimensions have been found to match a missing church in Hillsboro, N.C. Nantucket’s Fanning family were wealthy methodist shipbuilders originally from North Carolina. Could they have really shipped the building to Nantucket?
The Story of the Building: After the Revolutionary War which ended in 1783, American membership in the Church of England dropped and the churches were either torn down or repurposed. The Hillsboro church was converted into a school and later was used for political meetings. in 1778 and 1778 states were drafting their own drafts of the Bill of Rights, and writings suggest that North Carolina’s drafts were drawn up inside the Hillsboro former Church of England turned school.
Proving the Theory: The backs of the balcony pews in the main chapel’s upper level have old graffiti that appears to have been done by children. After much research through North Carolina’s genealogical records, names have been matched up.
Things Fall Apart: In the 1830s a Methodist minister took a stronger stance regarding the Civil War than the Methodist Group of New England agreed with and so Rev. John Lord was excommunicated. He responded by having a series of controversial letters published in the local Nantucket newspapers and he and many prominent members left the Methodist faith and became Baptists and built Nantucket’s Baptist Church. The timing couldn’t have been worse for the Methodists on island for whaling was in decline and the Methodists struggled to pay back the loan that funded the building’s construction and they struggled to properly maintain their enormous church.
In 1846 as the island struggled with decline in whales for whaling and decline in demand for whale oil due to the invention of the lightbulb, Nantucket’s Great Fire threatened to burn the church to the ground but miraculously ended up only getting scorched, unlike the rest of town (large white square marker stones in the sidewalks note how far the fire reached.) Nantucket’s years of hunger and poverty then followed. Members of the Methodist church took apart and sold the fence to the Universalists who put it on their church (which later became the Unitarian’s Atheneum) and they dug out a basement by hand so they could rent space out for storage (the basement is currently rented out to the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket.) But despite adding an impressive Appleton organ and decorative paintings on the wall, membership has always been in decline. Since five years after construction, the Methodist congregation of Nantucket has always struggled under the enormous weight of the financial burden the structure places on them. The congregation currently is made up of about 22 members. Despite donations to the Two Centre Street organization to restore the building, the funds have never been enough. Currently there are plans to remove the building’s lead paint and repair the roof, but sufficient funds for all the work needed have always been out of reach.
Tour the Church: In warm months the church is often open each day for visitors to go in and look around. If you find the center front door locked, try the side door by the bulletin board (if anyone asks, just say you are there to use the bathroom.) If you go in that side door you should look for a door on your left with a stairway behind it, make your way up those stairs to the lobby (don’t bother going up the 2nd carpeted flight) and then into the main chapel. Once in the main chapel make your way to the pulpit area and you will find to the left of it stairs leading to the mezzanine. Behind the wood pews you will see the names children of the 1770s carved in the wood.
While it is sad to see this once grand building fall apart, there is something to be said about enjoying a sincere old building that has not been fully restored and turned into a prettier version of itself. Just like the Unitarian Church’s main chapel, the space has not changed in well over a hundred years. The pew doors meant to keep warmth and foot warming dogs in place are still intact. Some pews have fancy drawers still in place from back when members bought their pews and fancied them up to show off their wealth. You can still look up and see the original seats upstairs that were once filled with poorer members and minorities.
This location is a Poke' stop.