Churches

The establishment of churches commonly began as small gatherings of settlers meeting in member’s homes or later in the local one room school. Soon these groups formally organized and erected church buildings, many of which remain in operation today. These include modest country churches such as Buckeye Church near Smithfield, to more elaborate works of architecture. Three churches in Fulton County have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Lewistown’s St. James Episcopal church, constructed in 1865, was designed by the famous architect Edwin Tuckerman Potter and has been described as one of the best examples of Gothic architecture in America. The Table Grove Community Church was built in 1869 as a Universalist Church. Its first pastor, Rev. John Hughes was a major leader in the Universalist Church movement. The Fairview Reformed Church was dedicated in 1841 as the first Dutch Reformed Church west of the Alleghenies.