First church on Walden's Ridge celebrates 160 years

Signal Mountain United Methodist Church is celebrating its 160th anniversary Oct. 29.	(Contributed photo)
Signal Mountain United Methodist Church is celebrating its 160th anniversary Oct. 29. (Contributed photo)
photo The cabin of John Robinett is among the homes on Walden's Ridge where Signal Mountain United Methodist Church began. (Contributed photo)

Signal Mountain United Methodist Church is celebrating 160 years of serving the community of Walden's Ridge by hosting a special service Sunday, Oct. 29 at 11 a.m.

The church officially began in October 1857, when the Rev. John Alley was appointed by the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church to lead the congregation. The Rev. M. P. Swain, pastor of the conference's Hamilton Circuit, had begun forming the church a year prior in the Fairmount community of Walden's Ridge.

Swain and Alley held services in residents' homes - mainly the cabin of John Robinett - and at Fairmount Academy until the 1870s, when the church, then called Fairmount Methodist Church, moved into its first building on North Fairmount Road. It was the first church building constructed on Walden's Ridge, according to the Rev. Jim Douthat, a local historian and former United Methodist minister who has been associated with Signal Mountain United Methodist for 52 years.

According to Douthat, the congregation remained in its original building until the mid-1950s. It then moved to its current building at the corner of Anderson Pike and Taft Highway, and the name was changed to Signal Mountain Methodist, which later became Signal Mountain United Methodist Church when the United Methodist Church was founded in 1968.

Following the special anniversary service Oct. 29, the church will have old photos, newspaper clippings and other historical memorabilia on display that most have never seen, said Douthat, adding that old members will also be returning to share in the celebration.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime event," he said of the anniversary service and celebration, which the entire community is invited to attend. "It's a time to renew our vows and renew friendships and old acquaintances."

Signal Mountain United Methodist Church is at 3419 Taft Highway and can be reached at 886-3582.

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