Background:

This one-and-a-half story stone building was constructed in 1804 as the first Methodist church in Germantown. It was built on land which had belonged to Jacob and Dorothy Reger, members of the congregation. The Regers' residence, vinegar distillery and grocery store were adjacent to the church on Haines Street and on Germantown Avenue.

In 1829 the Methodists built a new, larger church a few doors up the lane. The original meeting house was then used as the Germantown Infant School until the mid-1880s when kindergartens and public schools took over the role of educating young children of poor families.

The congregation moved again in 1898, this time building the First Methodist Church on the corner of Germantown Avenue and High Street. The cemetery was dismantled in 1904 to make way for additions to the YMCA. The original meeting house itself no longer stands.

Additional Sources:

• GHS: Box 11, envelope 5: "The first Methodist Church now a School" (photograph of original wash and ink drawing in John Richards' sketchbook, p. 30).

• GHS: Jellett, Edwin C. "Germantown Historical Miscellany," p. 250 (text).

• GHS: (L1-11) Keyser, N.H. Germantown Scrapbook, pp.59- 61 (newsclippings on Methodist Church on Haines Street).

• GHS: Keyser, Naaman. Manuscript Notes for v. 2 (north of Chelten), History of Old Germantown, pp. 32-33 (unpublished typewritten notes).

• GHS: Photo Scrapbook 2, George Clarence Johnson, "Pictorial Germantown Road..," pp. 88-89 (text and images).

• GHS: Richards, John. Landmarks in and about Germantown, [1863-89], p. 30: "The first Methodist Church, now a School. Haines" (ink and wash drawing).

• HSP: Campbell Collection includes:
  • vol. 33, p. 151: Feb. 10, 1911 newsclipping (with text and image) about the purchase of the old Methodist Church property to accommodate an addition to the YMCA.
  • vol. 33, p. 186: "Desolate Cemetery to be Dismantled" (1904 news article and photo).

• HSP: Perkins Collection, vol. 62:
  • p. 41-42: Old Methodist Meeting House and Reger property on Haines Street (images and manuscript text).
  • p. 43: "Dedication of A.C. Harmer School" (December 1903 news article with images and text).

• HSP: Richards, John. Old Landmarks in Germantown and Vicinity, 44a: "The old Schoolhouse, formerly the first Methodist Church" (ink and wash drawing).

• HSP: Shoemaker Collection, folio 21: "The Old Methodist Meeting House & Infant School" (manuscript text with the above image).