Stuttgart in Arkansas County, Arkansas — The American South (West South Central)

Grand Avenue United Methodist Church

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 16, 2024

1. Grand Avenue United Methodist Church Marker
(south side)

Inscription.
[south side] The Grand Avenue United Methodist Church was organized in 1887 with seventy-four members as a congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church and became the first Methodist congregation organized in Stuttgart. This new congregation worshiped in a store building located at 426 South Main Street. The Rev. George Noble was the congregation's first pastor. A small frame church was constructed in 1889 at the present location and hosted the Arkansas Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1905 with Bishop William Fraser McDowell presiding and again in 1915 with Bishop Frank Milton Bristol presiding. The original frame building was replaced in 1941 by the present church, which was designed by the church's pastor, Roland E. Darrow, and was constructed by the men of the church, along with help from community friends, while the women of the church prepared their meals.

[north side] The sanctuary and educational unit were debt free and dedicated by the Rev. Neil Hart, District Superintendent, on September 14, 1941. Building materials, some of the furnishings and the bell of the original church are included

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in the present building. The sanctuary light fixtures are from the First State Bank building once located at Third and Main in Stuttgart. A larger Fellowship Hall was added in 1958. The Grand Avenue Church has a rich history of worship, Christian education and programs for all groups, and for addressing human need both locally and internationally. It has been the church for various city mayors, school superintendents and community leaders, as well as for many ordinary Christians who have made extraordinary contributions for the Kingdom of God.

Donated with love and appreciation by Brad and Leeandara Smith
in honor of Nelson and Kay White and their family.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Charity & Public Work • Religion & Religious Structures • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1887.

Location. 34° 29.77′ N, 91° 33.005′ W. Marker is in Stuttgart, Arkansas, in Arkansas County. It is at the intersection of South Grand Avenue and East 7th Street, on the right when traveling north on South Grand Avenue. The marker is located beside the sidewalk,

Grand Avenue United Methodist Church Marker<br>(<i>north side</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 16, 2024

2. Grand Avenue United Methodist Church Marker
(north side)

directly in front of the subject church. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 705 South Grand Avenue, Stuttgart AR 72160, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Arkansas Delta,

in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain,

and in the Quapaw Homeland.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

and in the Mississippi Delta.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

the Louisiana Purchase,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Stuttgart Centennial (approx. 0.2 miles away); Stuttgart's First Public School (approx. ¼ mile away); Rev. Adam Buerkle (approx. ¼ mile away); The Britsch Grocery (approx. 0.4 miles away); Holman School (approx. 0.9 miles away); Love Rest Green Grove Cemetery (approx. 1.2 miles away); Camp Mitchell (approx.

Marker detail: 1889 Grand Avenue United Methodist Church image. Click for full size.

3. Marker detail: 1889 Grand Avenue United Methodist Church

1½ miles away); Stuttgart Army Airfield (approx. 7.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Stuttgart.

Also see . . .
1. Grand Avenue United Methodist Church (website). (Submitted on December 14, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
2. Stuttgart (Encyclopedia of Arkansas).

Excerpt: Begun as a colony of German immigrants in the late nineteenth century, it became over the years one of the centers of rice farming in Arkansas and is also known for the quality of the duck hunting available in the area. The Reverend George Adam Buerkle is considered the founder of Stuttgart. Buerkle was born in Plattenhardt, Germany, and immigrated to America with his family in 1852. He was working as a Lutheran minister in Woodville, Ohio, when he first came to Arkansas and bought over 7,000 acres of prairie land in 1878. He brought his first colony of forty-eight men, women, and children here in the fall of 1878. Buerkle brought his family in the second colony, which came on October 6, 1879. He kept almost one-half of his original purchase of land for his own family and sold the remainder to his
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 16, 2024

4. Grand Avenue United Methodist Church Cornerstones
Grand Ave.
M. E. Church
Erected in 1889.
———
Grand Avenue
Methodist Church
Rebuilt 1941
colonists for the same price that he paid for it — $3 per acre.

(Submitted on December 14, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Grand Avenue United Methodist Church<br>(<i>with marker south side</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 16, 2024

5. Grand Avenue United Methodist Church
(with marker south side)

Grand Avenue United Methodist Church<br>(<i>with marker north side</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 16, 2024

6. Grand Avenue United Methodist Church
(with marker north side)

Grand Avenue United Methodist Church (<i>northwest elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 16, 2024

7. Grand Avenue United Methodist Church (northwest elevation)

Credits. This page was last revised on December 14, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 14, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 216 times since then and 33 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on December 14, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.