Our History

The roots of Iowa City's "First Church" are deeply planted in Iowa's soil. In September 1839, a lone circuit rider approached the small settlement on the Iowa River. Bishop Thomas Morris, in Illinois, realized that there were Methodists among the pioneers who crossed the Mississippi River, and he sent Rev. Joseph L. Kirkpatrick to find them. The first gospel meeting of the new capitol, Iowa City, in the Iowa Territory, was held with a dozen men and women at the two-story log cabin of Matthew Ten Eyck.. After the town was platted, Church Reserves were made available. The Methodists claimed one on the southwest corner of Block 67. The first building was finished in 1844, remodeled first in 1863, and then again after a fire in 1884. The fire in April of 1906 demolished the church. By 1908 the current building was finished and dedicated.

The architectural design was the “Akron Plan” using sandstone trimmed with Bedford limestone. It was 80 feet by 120 feet, or six bays in front and eight bays on the side. The major front entrance is on Jefferson Street, and the minor one on Dubuque Street. Six skilled stone-cutters from the Quad Cities cut twelve-foot long square pillars and masons chiseled the trim for the entrance and edge of the Rosette window. On each corner in the front of the church there are square towers with battlements on top. The towers would seem to be belfries, but it is the case that the church has never had a bell. The main auditorium is a raised bowled floor with the altar and pulpit at the front. The choir and organ are behind the pulpit.

Improvements and some reconstruction were necessary in 1942 and again in 1969 when a Christian Education Building was erected just east of the main building. During remodeling and reconstruction in 1988-89 a new Holtkamp organ was installed. Fifty-five pastors and numerous associates have served this church and its congregations from 1839-2004.

Ilene Hammond, FUMC Historian and long-time member, has faithfully labored to keep FUMC's history alive. A collection of her Articles from the Archives are reproduced using the links below:

Age, Beauty and our Church / The Big Round Window
Mr. Weber and Governor Kirkwood
Travel by the Military Road
Dogs and Hogs and Fences
Church Organs
Remembering
Another Fire!
Describing the Church
Sidewalk and Boardwalk
Signature Banner
And on this Corner...