The first Class Meetings were organized on the Sinnamahoning Circuit of the Philadelphia Conference in Smethport about 1820. In 1836, it changed to the Genesee Conference, where it continued until 1962 when the Conference boundaries changed to State lines, placing the Smethport Charge in the Western Pennsylvania Conference.
The Sinnamahoning Circuit (more commonly called the ‘Smethport Circuit’) included Canoe Place, Millgrove, Tunungwant, Lafayette, and Bunker Hill. The Courthouse provided the place for preaching.
Feeling the need for its own place of worship, the growing Society opened a subscription book on October 8, 1837. A lot was purchased from the county commissioners and the wood frame church (designed by Solomon Sartwell) was dedicated in 1839.
In the late 1840s and again in the 1880s, the church served as a courthouse while construction was underway for the new courthouse. A parsonage was added to the church property in 1859 and is still in use by the church clergy today.
In 1878 the membership was sufficient for the Smethport Church to become a single charge.
In the 1880s the steeple on the church was replaced with a taller unit. By 1918 the church was raised to provide a basement where Otterbeln & Wesley Halls are located. Through the years this space has been used for a Child Day Care facility and several other local group meetings.
In 1960 an educational wing was added. In 1971 the church was remodeled again to a New England style which was closer in appearance to the original design. The original structure and foundation remains intact, but the wood siding was covered with vinyl in 2005.
The building is one of the oldest original Smethport buildings. More information about the church can be found at www.smethporthistory.org, the Hamlin Memorial Library, or the McKean County Museum.
Jim Herzog was our longest member, since April 2, 1939.