1871

Fort Wayne United Methodist Time Capsule

While records exist of Methodists in the Fort Wayne area as early as 1823, the local Methodist Church was formally organized in 1830. The first Wayne Street Methodist Church, called the Wayne Street Methodist Episcopal Church, was built at the corner of Wayne and Broadway in 1850. In 1871, a new brick building, designed by local architect George Trenam, replaced the first structure. The congregation sang to the sound of an organ that had to be hand pumped by the janitor, concealed behind a curtain. The time capsule was placed in the corner stone and uncovered in 1896 when the entire building was remodeled and enlarged. The time capsule contained documents of Fort Wayne including newspapers, directories, Christian pamphlets and a Bible.