The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Rev. George H. York and the 1916 Methodist Organization in Avon Park

The denominational beginnings of Avon Park’s Methodist congregation connect to the Florida Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the expansion of railroad service along the Lake Wales Ridge.[fumc-lw-1991] While local retrospective histories date the first informal gatherings of Methodist settlers to 1914, contemporary county press reports demonstrate that formal congregational organization and regular Sunday services were instituted in March and April 1916 under the leadership of the Reverend George H. York.[dsc-1916-03-23][dsc-1916-04-20]

The Frostproof Circuit and Rev. George H. York

In late 1914 and 1915, following the completion of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad line south along the Ridge, the Florida Annual Conference established the Frostproof Mission circuit under the Reverend G. W. Stubbs, linking pioneer Methodist societies in Frostproof, Avon Park, Sebring, and Lake Wales.[fumc-lw-1991] At the December 1915 meeting of the Florida Conference in Tampa, the Reverend George H. York was appointed pastor of the circuit, taking up residence in the parsonage at Frostproof.[fumc-lw-1991]

York was an experienced itinerant minister who had been admitted on trial to the Florida Annual Conference in 1897, ordained deacon in 1899, and ordained elder in 1903. Throughout 1916 he traveled the Ridge stations to formally institute denominational bodies under the Orlando District, presided over by Elder Smith Hardin.[lakeland-1916-12-12][fumc-lw-1991]

The March 1916 Organization and the April Tent Meetings

On 23 March 1916, the Avon Park correspondent for The De Soto County News reported:

“Rev. G. H. York is organizing a Methodist church here and will soon have regular services every Sunday.”[dsc-1916-03-23]

To build membership and secure financial support, York organized an outdoor revival campaign. Four weeks later, on 20 April 1916, the newspaper confirmed:

“Rev. G. H. York will hold a series of tent meetings here beginning Sunday April 23. Evangelist E. D. Hobson will be here and assist.”[dsc-1916-04-20]

The revival meetings in late April 1916, conducted under canvas with the assistance of visiting evangelist E. D. Hobson, galvanized the town’s Methodist adherents.[dsc-1916-04-20] At the Florida Conference held in Ocala in December 1916, the conference boundaries were adjusted: Lake Wales was separated and paired with Haines City, while York was formally reappointed to the newly designated “Frostproof and Avon Park Mission” for the 1917 conference year.[lakeland-1916-12-12] At the December 1917 conference, York was reassigned to Coleman in the Ocala District, succeeded on the Ridge circuit by the Reverend J. L. Criswell.[lakeland-1917-12-12]

Reconciling the 1914 Tradition with the 1916 Record

Retrospective accounts published in the 1970s and 2020s record that the First United Methodist Church was established in 1914 with eleven charter members: Charles Harris, B. H. Starkey, E. L. Hockersmith, J. H. Dutton, Leila Hagan, J. W. Frazier, and C. E. Lanier.[maxwell-1976]

The contemporary press reports from 1916 do not contradict the existence of an early prayer group or informal class meeting in 1914, but they demonstrate that the formal denominational apparatus—incorporation into the Florida Conference circuit, a settled pastoral charge, weekly Sunday services, and evangelistic recruitment—was established in March and April 1916 under York’s direction.[dsc-1916-03-23][dsc-1916-04-20]

Following the 1916 organization, the congregation met in temporary quarters. By 1918, services were held in a converted corrugated-tin commercial structure on Main Street that had previously served as a roller-skating rink.[maxwell-1976] In 1919, pioneer merchant C. E. Lanier and cattleman Chesley Skipper jointly donated lots at South Lake Avenue and South Forest Avenue for a permanent church site.[maxwell-1976]

Local masonry contractor William L. Smith was engaged to construct the sanctuary.[maxwell-1976] By November 1920, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map company surveyed the site and depicted the Methodist Episcopal Church (South) standing on South Forest Avenue.[sanborn-1920] The finished cream-brick sanctuary was formally dedicated on the first Sunday in May 1921.[maxwell-1976]

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. The De Soto County News, The De Soto County News, 23 March 1916, page 5: Avon Park Column (1916) · newspaper
  2. The De Soto County News, The De Soto County News, 20 April 1916, page 5: Avon Park Column (1916) · newspaper
  3. The Lakeland Evening Telegram, The Lakeland Evening Telegram, 12 December 1916, page 5: Florida Conference Appointments (1916) · newspaper
  4. The Lakeland Evening Telegram, The Lakeland Evening Telegram, 12 December 1917, page 1: Methodist Appointments (1917) · newspaper
  5. Robert C. Boggs, First United Methodist Church of Lake Wales, Our Rich History: 75th Anniversary Observance, 1916–1991 (1991) · secondary
  6. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida (../documents/the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md) (1976) · book
  7. Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Avon Park, Highlands County, Florida, November 1920 (../documents/sanborn-1920-avon-park.md) (1920) · official

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