This Historic Church Building in OR was Destroyed by Fire 2004

Bethel Baptist Church, Gresham Oregon

Date added: March 10, 2024 Categories:

Do you have an update on the current status of this structure? Please tell us about it in the comments below.

Bethel Baptist Church in Gresham, Multnomah County, Oregon, is a small, 30 x 50-foot wood-frame church in the Rural Gothic tradition which, having been constructed in 1886, predates the town's date of incorporation by nineteen years. The church underwent a succession of modifications over the years in response to changing fashion and the demand for expanded space. In its original location at the southeast corner of the intersection of Walters Road and SE Powell Boulevard, the church rested on a pier foundation, had a central, pointed-arched entrance and a simple, open belfry with pyramidal roof. A 12 x 30-foot baptistry was added to the rear in 1913. In 1926, the congregation sought to update the building stylistically by offsetting the entrance in a castellated corner tower. At the same time, the church was raised on a concrete basement. In 1944, a wing was added to the east face, and the original volume was veneered with brick. In 1979, having been displaced by a new church on the site, the building was spared demolition when claimed by the Gresham Historical Society and moved 800 feet east to a City-owned parcel overlooking a municipal park. There the church is permanently sited and awaits restoration to its pre-1926 configuration for use as a local history museum. With the corner tower of 1926 and the east wing and brick veneer of 1944 pared away, most of the building's Rural Gothic characteristics; specifically, its double-pitched roof, pointed-arched windows, shiplap exterior siding, and simple trim, are intact. Solid evidence of the nature and appearance of missing elements exist as a basis for restoration. While, of necessity, no longer on its original site, the church now occupies a site more suburban in character and, therefore, more nearly like its original setting than the commercial zone that grew up along Powell Boulevard in later years. Moreover, it is linked to its historic burying ground by a footpath constructed through the park to the Walters Road site.

Bethel Baptist Church was the oldest church and one of the oldest buildings of any type in Gresham. It not only embodies the distinctive characteristics of the Rural Gothic Style popular in Oregon from 1850 to 1890.

The business center of a once-extensive agricultural area and still the scene of the Multnomah County Fair, Gresham is fast becoming an east suburb of the Portland metropolitan area. Its current population is 34,000. The town was named for soldier-statesman Walter Quinton Gresham (1832-1895), who was U.S. Postmaster General in 1884 when its post office was established. It was in 1884, also, that early settlers Henry and Clementine Metzger deeded land for the community church which was to be known as Bethel Baptist Church.

For the sum of $1.00, Henry and Clementine Metzger deeded land in 1884 for "burying ground and church purposes" for the use of Missionary Baptists and German Baptists with the stipulation that the house of worship "when not in use by either of the [Baptist] denominations . . . shall be free for the use of any other Christian denomination." Henry Metzger had arrived in Oregon in 1878, settled in East Multnomah County and became a prosperous farmer whose holdings included much of what is now downtown Gresham. One of Metzger's sons, A. W. Metzger, operated a large general store and was active in community affairs. Descendents of the Metzgers still reside in the Gresham area.

The major share of money required to build the church came from church members Johnson Cleveland and James Statt. Cleveland's son, Charles, also a member of the church, was instrumental in obtaining a Carnegie Library for Gresham, served as Mayor from 1925-1932, and helped form a forerunner of the local Chamber of Commerce. Another of Charles Cleyeland's important contributions to the community was spearheading a drive to open a cooperative cannery in Gresham. James Statt engaged in a stock raising and dairy business and owned considerable land in the area. For many years he served as Justice of the Peace.

According to church records, the building was completed and opened for use in 1886. It remained in continuous use until 1979, at which time the Church Board decided to replace it with a newer structure. The Gresham Historical Society, hearing of the plan to raze the old church, petitioned the Church Board to donate the building to the Society.

The request was honored by the Board on condition that the building be removed from its site so that development could proceed. On August 11^th, 1979, the building was moved to nearby Main City Park and was subsequently sited on a parcel of land leased to the Society by the City for $1.00 a year. The church is to be restored for use as a museum honoring Gresham pioneers. Toward that end, a pathway has been constructed through the park as a link to the church burial ground on Walters Road south of the original site.

Over $27,000 has been donated by citizens and businesses in the area to help preserve and restore the Church to its original architecture. The Gresham Historical Society, the Optimist Club of Gresham and the Carpenter's Union Local 226, under the leadership of Mr. Leo Larsen who is the secretary of the Carpenter's Union, have been working and donating their time and talents on this project since its move on August 11^th, 1979.

The First Bethel Baptist Church burned down early on the morning of Saturday, May 22^nd, 2004. The church was 120 years old, and likely its oldest public building. Many citizens and local craftsmen volunteered their time and expertise to maintain and restore the church. It is believed that the fire was caused by someone setting a warming fire. A portion of the memorial brick wall remains. Efforts are underway to place a plaque at the site to commemorate the loss of this important and treasured piece of local history.

Building Description

Bethel Baptist Church was erected in 1886 by pioneer Gresham carpenter-builder Peter Engles. Typical of smaller churches in the Rural Gothic tradition in Oregon dating from the 1850s to 1890, it was a wood frame,single-room building, measuring 30 x 50 feet. It rested on a pier foundation and had a double-pitched roof surmounted at the front gable end by an open square belfry with a pyramidal roof. Exterior walls were clad with shiplap siding and trimmed with simple corner boards and frieze boards under a boxed cornice. The primary stylistic characteristic was the use of pointed-arched openings with label moldings for the central doorway and for the four windows in either side elevation. Window openings were fitted with colored glass in a double-hung sash. A simple, uncovered stoop led to the front entrance.

In its original location at the intersection of Powell Boulevard and Walters Road, it was oriented longitudinally, facing north onto Powell Boulevard. The church graveyard was behind the building, to the south. Shortly after the turn of the century, a three-story schoolhouse was built across Walters Road immediately to the west of the church. Orchards lay on the east and west. The setting at the southern outskirts of Gresham was decidedly suburban, with expanses of wooded and open agricultural land spreading to the south.

In 1913, a single-story, hip-roofed, 12 x 30-foot baptistry was added to the rear. The new addition was lighted by straight-topped, double-hung windows, and also housed the heating plant. A brick flue rose from the northeast corner of the addition and pierced the cornice of the main block.

In 1926, the congregation sought to update the building stylistically by offsetting the entrance in a castellated corner vestibule and bell tower. Two pointed-arched windows were opened in the facade to balance the new feature. Window openings of the tower, like those of the baptistry, were straight-topped and fitted with double-hung sash with six lights over one. At this time, also, the entire structure was raised on a concrete basement story.

In 1944, in further response to the need of the growing congregation for expanded facilities, a two-story Sunday school, and an administrative wing was added at right angles to the east face, and the church was encased in a veneer of brick. Thus enlarged and remodeled, yet with its original volume essentially intact, the church served another 35 years until 1979, when it was displaced by an all-new facility.

In its present location on an 85 x 199-foot parcel leased from the City of Gresham in Main City Park, the church is 800 feet east of its original site and is linked to its historic graveyard by a footpath through the park. Owing to commercial development bordering the park on the north and to the slope of the terrain, which falls off sharply toward Johnson Creek to the south, it was impractical to retain the building's original north-facing orientation. Instead, the building is oriented with its long axis south-easterly to northwesterly, the principal facade facing South Main Avenue at an acute angle. The church overlooks the park setting and residential development on the hillside to the southeast.

Because the building is to be maintained by the Gresham Historical Society as a local history museum, meeting and storage space has been gained by placing the church on a concrete basement story once again. However, the sloping grade will be backfilled to mask the basement foundation, and window wells will provide daylight to the basement story. For similar reasons, it was decided to retain the baptistry addition of 1913. Thus, the building will be restored to its pre-1926 configuration. The target date for completion of the restoration is the summer of 1982. The work is being accomplished through donated services of the local carpenters' union. An historic photograph of 1907 and physical evidence of the dimensions and placement of the original belfry provide a solid basis for accurate restoration.

The roof, presently covered by composition shingles, will be replaced with cedar shingles to match the original cover. Wall areas removed or modified in the remodelings of 1926 and 1944 will be rebuilt, and interior lath and plaster walls water damaged in recent years will be repaired as necessary. A coved cornice added to the 16-foot high sanctuary space upon completion of the corner vestibule tower in 1926, will be retained in all likelihood. The sanctuary is to serve as exhibit space. Pointed arched windows are presently filled with marbelized glass. The original treatment appears to have been single-color individual panes arranged in varicolored patterns in a given window. Tongue and groove wainscoting to a height of three feet encircles the sanctuary, and the altar area is presently distinguished by a platform and chancel rail at the front end of the church.