First Avenue and Vine Street

In my story about Soule College, I explained that the Methodist Episcopal Church used funds from that sale to build a new church. The congregation had outgrown their building at what was then 804 First Avenue so they made plans for new construction right next door at the southwest corner of First and Vine.

The 1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows the old M. E. Church with a frame dwelling located on the lot to the north at 805 First. The only significant change to the property prior to the new construction was the street number standardization, which took place around 1909. These lots were assigned new addresses of 715 and 719 First Avenue at that time.

In July of 1912, the church board of trustees voted unanimously to construct a new church building with the cost not to exceed $25,000.

The church’s parsonage on Avenue B was traded to Ira and Lottie Beck for the corner lot with the agreement that the Becks would have the house removed.

Kansas City architect William F Schrage was selected to design the new building, which included a total seating capacity of around 1,000.

The 70′ x 90′ building was to include a Sunday school room, 15 classrooms, and a pastor’s study. A gymnasium, social room, and heating plant would be located in the basement.

The funds from the Soule College sale didn’t come close to paying for the building. A financial rally was held on October 20, 1912 with the goal of raising the remaining $15,000. Emery Beck removed the house from the corner lot to a new spot on his farm, allowing excavation by Sam Bagley to begin in November. The church planned to use lumber from their old building to construct a parsonage once the new building was occupied.

After slight alterations to the plans, the construction contract was awarded to Julian Parham and L. J. Upp with a completion deadline of September 1, 1913.

Stained glass costing around $500 was ordered from the Kansas City Art Glass Company in January of 1913. Circular pews and other seating were provided by the American Seating Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Misner Plumbing Company submitted the winning bid for the heating system at $1,400.

Brickwork began in February of 1913 but progress was slow due to poor weather conditions. Windows and flooring were installed in July. Fundraising efforts were ongoing throughout construction.

Although it wasn’t completely finished, the first service was held in the new church building on August 31, 1913. The building was used for various daytime meetings and events but nothing could be scheduled during the evenings because lights hadn’t yet been installed.

October 19, 1913 had been the target date for dedicating the new church building. However, the church board decided to wait until the building debt was nearly repaid. The ceremony finally took place on May 31, 1914 without a pipe organ. Due to the flood of donations at the dedication, a $3,000 Pilcher pipe organ was ordered at once. The organ was officially unveiled during a celebratory concert on December 29, 1914.

In 1915, the new frame parsonage was built on the site of the old church for approximately $3,300.

The 1918 Sanborn was the first to show the new building at 719 First with the new parsonage and a detached garage next door to the south.

In August of 1928, contracts were awarded for a new Sunday school and office building to be constructed along the alley at the back of the lots. Once again, Julian Parham was the builder and the expected cost was $65,000.

The church was still growing and needed additional space. A new parsonage was built around 1954, which was attached to the front of the office. Shown here is the new parsonage to the left of the church.

This photo shows a bit more detail of the beautiful church building.

To the right in this photo, you can see the back side of the education building with the church connected at the north end. Both had walk-out basements, making them appear to be three stories tall.

The church was still growing, however, so they built a new facility in 1964. The property on First Avenue was sold to the City of Dodge City for use as the new City Hall and police station. Those cruisers had to be parked somewhere so the beautiful church was demolished and replaced with a parking lot. Because of course it was.

Around 1990, the City built the new police station across the street from the old church and City Hall moved to the old Southwest Clinic. Since that time, the former parsonage and education building have housed all sorts of businesses from attorneys to accountants to medical offices. I can’t remember the last time I saw the parking lot full.

These photos were taken about a year ago.

I’m not a zoning reform absolutist but we have a lot of parking lots, folks. We also have a multilevel parking garage that is falling into ruin.

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