Fellsmere in Indian River County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Fellsmere Union Church

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, September 12, 2014

1. Fellsmere Union Church Marker-Side 1

Inscription. (side 1)
Fellsmere Union Church, located at 12 North Hickory Street, is the first and oldest church in the City of Fellsmere. The Reverend James A. Liggitt, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of London, Ohio, and a property owner in Fellsmere, was quoted in his sermonette in the July 25, 1912 edition of the Fellsmere Farmer as saying there was "a strong sentiment among residents of Fellsmere, Florida for a church unity organization—a Union Church or amalgamation of religious bodies which in their present segregated state make it necessary to maintain countless churches and pastors." At the time, the Union Church movement was spreading across the United States and Canada. The Reverend Fletcher D. Baker, Doctor of Divinity, who later became the first minister of the Fellsmere Union Church, arrived in Fellsmere in October 1912, at age 68, and built a cottage at the corner of New York Avenue and Orange Street. Unfortunately, his wife, Ella Vanarsdel Baker, died the month before at age 65. Rev. Baker was born in Indiana and later moved to Illinois, where he served in the Union Army as a private during the Civil War, from

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

1862 to 1865, and fought at Gettysburg. He was ordained as a Methodist Episcopal minister in 1871. (Continued on other side)
A Florida Heritage Site
(side 2) (Continued from other side) On December 12, 1912, Baker, along with R.A. Conkling, Fellsmere Farms Company Demonstration Farm Superintendent, and Victor J. Hadin, local builder, were appointed to a committee to consider forming a Union Church. By January 23, 1913, there were at least 24 donors to the church, including the Fellsmere Farms Company. In a letter dated January 14, 1913, General Manager Ernest H. Every stated that the Fellsmere Farms Company donated Lots 10 to 17 in Block 77 to the Union Church. The order for lumber was placed by February 6, 1913, and the original one-story wood frame 40'x60' building with a 10'x10' square bell tower was constructed by Victor J. Hadin over the next three months. On Sunday, May 4, 1913, the Fellsmere Union Church opened its doors for its first non-denominational worship service. In August, the church was lighted with electricity. By 1914, church membership totaled 101, and in 1920, the church was incorporated. On January 6, 1926,

Fellsmere Union Church Marker-Side 2 image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, September 12, 2014

2. Fellsmere Union Church Marker-Side 2

the congregation voted to change the name of the church to the Fellsmere Community Church, and it was incorporated by this name on September 14, 1953, by church member Ernest H. W Everett.
A Florida Heritage Site

Erected 2013 by The Indian River County Historical Society, the City of Fellsmere and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-766.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Religion & Religious Structures.

Location. 27° 46.067′ N, 80° 35.96′ W. Marker is in Fellsmere, Florida, in Indian River County. It is at the intersection of North Hickory Street and Pennsylvania Avenue (County Road 512), on the left when traveling north on North Hickory Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 12 N Hickory St, Fellsmere FL 32948, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Florida’s Space Coast.

It is also in the American South

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

Fellsmere Union Church and Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, September 12, 2014

3. Fellsmere Union Church and Marker

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Fellsmere Veterans Memorial (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Fellsmere (about 500 feet away); Fellsmere Historical Church (about 800 feet away); The Fellsmere Public School (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Marian Fell Library (approx. 0.3 miles away); Birthplace for Equal Suffrage for Women in Florida (approx. 0.4 miles away); The Fellsmere Railroad (approx. half a mile away); Fellsmere Historic African American Community (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fellsmere.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on March 24, 2016, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 745 times since then and 36 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on March 24, 2016, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.