Wauhatchie United Methodist Church

            The Wauhatchie United Methodist Church today is in its sixth sanctuary since 1812 and is named in honor of Chief Wauhatchie. Bob Hicks started the church prior to the “War of 1812,” off of Kelley’s Ferry Road, in an old log cabin, at the foot of Grinde Stone Mountain now called Raccoon Mountain. The first pastor of the church had to walk a trail along Aetna Mountain (Old Aetna Mountain Road) to give the sermon. When the cabin burned down the congregation moved to the farm of Larkin O’Barr. During the Battle of Wauhatchie the church was used as a hospital. At the end of the Civil War the congregation moved across Lookout Valley to Wauhatchie Pike to a log house adjacent to Rowden Springs on land donated by John Cummings.

            In 1945, the church was condemned because it was considered being unsafe to worship in. 1946 twenty-five members began working on a new sanctuary on the present site of the church. The first church service was held on December 14, 1947, and the church was dedicated on October 30, 1949, by Bishop Paul Kern, who was on the President Council of Bishops of the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. When the Congregation grew to over 363 members in the 1960s a second church building was started.

            The second building in its present location was completed in three phases. The first phase was completed in 1966 and consisted of a fellowship hall, kitchen, and classrooms. The second phase of the building was finished in the early 1970s with additional classrooms and a pastor study. The final phase was completed with a new sanctuary and a church office completed on November 27, 1977. 

Old Church that was found on Wauhatchie Pike closed in 1940 due to building was considered unsafe. Building was also used as a school till it was closed.	Old Photos of Wauhatchie United Methodist

Submitted by Alex McKeel
richardamckeel@bellsouth.net