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The spire and steeple were taken off the church in the 1920´s—probably to alleviate water damage. The building served the congregation well until the 1940´s. In 1949, Mr. L. B. Rake left the church a gift of $25,000. The building, already forty six years old, needed a great deal of repair and remodeling, so Paul McCorkle and his company went to work.
The original bell tower or belfry (under the spire) was made of wood and bricks, but the floor of the inside tower was just covered with felt paper. Over the years water had seeped in which damaged the brickwork and caused the tower to leak into the main entry. To solve the problem the tower was squared off and wooden louvers were installed—mainly to keep the weather and the pigeons out, but so that the bell could still be heard.
The sanctuary has always had amphitheater seating, but originally there were two aisles and two doorways leading to the sanctuary from the main entrance. Brides of the congregation desired a center aisle to walk down, so the two doorways were closed off and a center entry door installed, the pews were replaced and arranged as they are today.
The flooring in the sanctuary is maple but the hot water heating and radiators had caused so much damage to the floor that it has been covered with carpeting.
It was also in 1949 that the Communion railing at the front of the church was removed and a new rail was put in place in front of the overflow room. They replaced all the woodwork and re-plastered the walls to replace the wood lathe. Paul was amused to find that the columns are gypsum or plaster paris so the men plastered right up to them and saved this architectural detail. The ceiling in the sanctuary was peeling and falling, so tiles were bolted in place.
The choir loft remains the same, but you´ll notice two doors in the overflow room which were opened to allow people to hear the choir before a sound system was installed in the church. The overflow room originally had a vaulted ceiling but more room was needed for Sunday School rooms, so the ceiling was dropped, a stairway and rooms were added to the upstairs. For safety reasons a fire escape was put on the north side of the building.
The basement had a wooden floor and was about a foot higher than the concrete floor poured during these renovations. There were also five or six wooden support posts which made it difficult to arrange tables and seating, so these were removed and three new posts were installed. The kitchen has always been in its present location and has always had an outside stairway. Paul and his men built the outside enclosed stairway at this time as well.
A fascinating doorway, suspended as a second story doorway is located inside the east entrance which is suspended as a second story doorway. It is a storage space but we have not determined why it is so high. A young child once asked if that was God´s bedroom.
The beautiful stain glass windows have fascinated young and old alike. Although we have not found the actual history of the windows, they have been cherished throughout the years. The window to the south is a picture of Jesus with a small child and the one on the east is a view out into a garden, with a cross as a focal point. If anyone has knowledge as to how these windows were chosen and exactly when they arrived to be installed, please let us know. (According to the Sac Suns of 1902 & 1903, the windows were delayed in arriving and were not installed at the time of the dedication on Mar. 15, 1903)
Many years later in 1988, the front entry to the west that was originally the church office was remodeled to house the elevator. (The office was moved to the east side of the church.) A new lower level entry door and stairs were added to continue to enable folks to enter the church from the west.
While the church building itself will celebrate its 100th birthday in March of 2003, the history of our
church goes back to the beginning of Sac City.
In the spring of 1854, F.M. Cory, wife Isabella, and seven sons started for Sac County from Hardin County, Ohio. They arrived on the 4th day of September, 1854 and along with others of the first settlement went into camp at the Big Spring east of Sac City. Later the Cory family settled on a tract of land, located 2 miles south of the present site of Sac City. The seven sons who came with them were Isaac A., William, Hugh M., Harvey W., George I., Joseph H., and John. A daughter, Frances I., was born March 16, 1856. She was the first white girl born in Sac County.
According to historical records, they came on a Friday afternoon and on the following Sabbath, Isabella Cory, wife of F.M. Cory, crossed to the west side of the river and, coming near to the spot where the Methodist Episcopal Church now stands, she knelt to pray and asked God to send his gospel and plant his church in this new land.
This church stands on that very ground today.
From "A Historical Sketch of Sac City United Methodist Church 1855" - "One of the more recent innovations has been the Tour of Homes with a tea or luncheon as an adjunct to the tour. This was first proposed and carried out in 1962 and has continued in alternate years since that time."
Chamber– Main Street Sac City has assumed these tours in recent years and we hope you enjoyed your visit to our church and all the homes on the tour as well.
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