DEDICATION … The Fountain Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church was officially dedicated on February 18, 1862. Situated at the northwest corner of County Roads H-50 and 19.50 in Brady Township, the wooden frame house of worship was built on land purchased on August 19, 1858, by church trustees James Jenkins, William McNeal, George Delabaugh, Henry Radabaugh, and Samuel Figgins from Philip W. and Eliza Snow.
The church featured two front doors, which may have been intended as separate entrances for men and women, though former congregation members held differing opinions on this. Inside, the sanctuary had a divider—similar to the one in the Emanuel German Methodist Church southeast of West Unity—that separated men and women during services. Loren Oberlin recalled the lighting was provided by wall-mounted kerosene lanterns with reflectors. Oberlin also noted that the church was part of a circuit with Archbold and Oak Shade.
Fountain Chapel closed around 1931 due to declining membership. After services ceased, the land reverted to Charles Martin, who repurposed the building for machinery storage. The structure was destroyed in a fire in 1986. This photograph, likely taken in the late 1910s, is part of the Williams County Public Library Huffman Photographic Archives. Do you have a historic Williams County story to share?