Sillsville Methodist Church

The original Sillsville Class Meeting had been meeting in the nearby Sillsville schoolhouse.

In 1890, the Hamburg Methodist Church building near Hawley was moved to the hamlet of Sillsville.

It was then a wooden frame structure.

[See Hamburg Church for more information]

One-half acre of land – South Fredericksburgh Township, Concession 2, Part of the west half of Lot 8,

was deeded from Marshal Bidwell Lasher

to the Trustees of Sillsville Methodist Church for $5.00 on April 3, 1890

The church was formally open and dedicated in its new location on December 14, 1890.

“This was a frame building, clapboarded and painted white on the outside, with a tall steeple over the front door.

The interior had a gallery above the entrance to the church at the north end, with a set of stairs leading to this gallery.

The building was heated by large box stoves in each of the corners at the north end.

The windows were of a rectangular shape, with the panes of frosted glass.

Two Centuries in Sillsville, by Donald Hough

Renovations on the building began in 1924 under the pastorate of Rev. H.B. Neal.

The Sillsville news in November of 1924 included:

“The church is nearly finished and is a very nice brick building.

The steeple is changed to a tower; the door has been made smaller;

the windows smaller and in every way improved so much that it could never be recognized for the

old frame structure which stood there six months ago.”

“The clapboard siding was covered over with a brick veneer. New stained glass windows of a different (gothic) shape were installed on the east and west sides and there was a special memorial window at the south end, over the area where the choir sat. Windows at the north end were bricked over on the outside and plastered over on the inside. The front entrance had been in the form of a tower, with a tall steeple and there was a tall window above the entrance door on the north and windows on three sides at a higher level, above the roof of the church.

The upper windows were covered over. One smaller, round, memorial type window was built in several feet above the entrance door, replacing the tall window there. The steeple was removed and the roof of the tower was altered accordingly. Brick abutments were built, between the windows on the east and west sides, on the outside of the building to give a decorative effect and improve the rigidity of the walls.

A basement was dug under the southern part of the building, where a coal or wood burning furnace was installed. The interior walls were re-plastered and painted, including a decorative border. Previous lighting had been by coal-oil lamps in brackets along the walls. A Coleman lighting system, using gasoline under pressure through pipes to the suspended fixtures, a very modern facility for the time, provided good lighting.

New pews were purchased, of a very comfortable type and handsome design. The seats were of a curved, comfortable shape, different from most flat wooden pew seats, even in larger urban churches.”

Two Centuries in Sillsville, by Donald Hough

In 1925, the Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists joined together to form the United Church of Canada.

In April of 1930, the debt on the church was paid off and the debt papers burned.

When many of the small rural churches were closed by Presbytery in 1967, Sillsville was among them.

The building was turned over to the local women’s group and used until 1989, when it was sold to a private buyer.

The Original Building

The Church After Being Bricked in 1925

The Church in 1944
Sillsville Sunday School c1935 Back: Arthur Mellow, Mrs. George Sharpe, Mrs. Perry Young, Arnold Young, Mary Mellow, Leslie Mellow, Donald Hough. 3rd Row: Mrs. A. Mellow, Irene Ruttan, Edna Galt, Mrs. Harold Hough, Vera Whyte, Mrs. Bob Merritt, Hilda Creighton, Phyllis Hough 2nd Row: Jim Magee, Franklin Magee, Gerald Magee, Frank Thompson, UNK, Nellie Lloyd, Moira McLean, Margaret McLean, Ken Thompson Front: Harold Hill, Mary Creighton, John Creighton, Earl Lloyd, Marie Hill, Grace Hill, Wes Lloyd, Jack Thompson.
Sillsville Sunday School 1967 Back: Allie Wagar, Audrey McCracken, Birdie Loyst, Marion Hough, Robert Hough, Evelyn Tibbutt, Jean Hough, Don Hough, Leone Garrison, Gordon Dickson, Ken Hough, Anne Mellow, Muriel Mellow, Brenda Loyst, Betty Lou Tibbutt, Mike Garrison. Middle: Danny McCracken. Front: Bruce Hough, David Benn, Barbara Benn, Marilyn McCracken, Murray McCracken, Carolyn McCracken, Glenda McCracken, Liz Garrison.
The Women’s Association sold the church by auction in 1989.