Celebrating 175 years of Ministry!
HISTORY OF FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
1825-2000
The First Christian Church to be organized in the village ofHawkinsville, Georgia was the Methodist Church. Established as aregular preaching station of the Houston Circuit in 1825, thecongregation constructed the first church building in Hawkinsville priorto 1832. This original building was located on the corner of NorthDooly and First Streets. The inadequacy of this site quickly becameapparent, due largely by the flooding of a nearby pond that would attimes make the church inaccessible. In 1857, a deed was secured from a Mr. Simon Merritt for the presentsite on the corner of South Dooly and Merritt Streets. A spacious, wellconstructed church was constructed on this site which was used until 1895when a new brick church building was constructed on the site.
FROM THE BEGINNING:
The first record of any religious service being held in the villageof Hawkinsville is from 1825, on the banks of the Ocmulgee River, about where the bridges are now. The participants were a diverse group includingblacks, whites and Indians. The minister was Brother McCarrollPeurifoy. It was in that year that the Methodist Church was founded. Preaching was first done at cross-roads, and homes of village andcountry folk until the Methodists erected a church building. In 1895, the Methodists of Hawkinsville felt the need to buildanother church building, which they did. They enjoyed that buildinguntil 1949 when the present Sanctuary and Sunday School rooms were built. It was dedicated in 1951.