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History Of The Chapel

The original Asbury Methodist Chapel in northern Green Township, Ohio was built in 1836 from bricks handmade and fired on the grounds of the John McKnight farm. The original brick church was destroyed by a storm in the 1850’s.

A new simple country chapel was rebuilt with wood from the surrounding white oak trees in 1868 on the same site as the original chapel.

On March 15, 1868, a tornado in southwestern Ohio and southern Indiana demolished Asbury Church. The roof was torn off and the entire structure was badly damaged.

April 25, 1868 at a meeting of the stewards, it was decided to build a new church on the foundation of the old building. After rebuilding and reopening in 1868, sadly due to declining membership and the outbreak of WWI, the doors of Asbury Chapel were locked and services were discontinued, September, 1917.

May 6, 1934 the Asbury Chapel was reopened. This opening marked the 100 year anniversary of the founding of the church on Pleasant Ridge Road (West Fork Road).

In 1952 additional land was purchased and the new current Monfort Heights United Methodist Church sanctuary was built. The Asbury Chapel continued to be used for Sunday School classes and community meetings.

In the 1980’s the Chapel was in disrepair and needed to be renovated. Larry Cook, a member of the Methodist Church led the charge to raise the $40,000 to preserve the building. In June of 1984 the Chapel reopened. Since then it has been used for weddings, church services and was the home of Boy Scout Troop 98 since the mid 70’s.

Almost 40 years later our charming historic chapel was in disrepair again. In 2022 a Capital Campaign was started to raise $500,000 to renovate and repurpose the existing chapel with an addition out the back that would include a small kitchen, 2 bathrooms, storage space and patio. This renovation included running water, updated heating and AC units, stained glass windows, new roof, new siding, new patio and updated gardens and cemetery. Careful planning was made to preserve the historic charm of the building while adding the needed modern amenities. The grand opening for the Newly renovated Chapel was November 10, 2024, opening its door as the Asbury Chapel & Arts Center.

More details on the Asbury Chapel History can be found in this book:

Old Asbury, A History of Asbury Methodist Chapel by Thomas Sakmyster and James Innis