Crawfordville Methodist Church

This church, originally known as "Bird's Chapel," was founded in 1826 as the first church in the newly formed town of Crawfordville. It was an outgrowth of the now defunct Powder Creek Meeting House near Sandy Cross, which came into existence about 1805. "Bird's Chapel" was ministered to by the Rev. Williamson Bird, Jr., who built and lived in the house now known as "Liberty Hall," the home of Alexander Hamilton Stephens. This chapel, originally located at the corner of what is now Jackson and Askin Streets, was later moved closer in to town for the convenience of its members. It was disbanded just before the War Between the States due to the moving away of many of its members, but was re-formed by the Rev. Allen Thomas, in 1876, on the southwest corner of the Liberty Hall lawn on land donated by Alexander H. Stephens. By 1911, this old church was outgrown and a new and larger building was built a half-block north of this present site; that building was destroyed by a cyclone in 1918. The present building, of Greek Colonial design, was erected in 1920.