Barrington United Methodist Church

The church's history can be traced back to the year 1833 at the close of the Blackhawk War, when the treaty with the Native Americans removed most of the Native Americans to the reservations west of the Mississippi and opened the northern prairies of Illinois for settlement.

From the barren New England states came the “Yankee Pioneers” and their families, seeking land and new opportunities. They came first to Chicago, then out to the prairies, buying their land for $1.25 an acre. The first families that came to the Barrington Area arrived between the years 1834-1840.

The Methodist Preachers rode across the Alleghenies with the pioneers, and many historians agree that these Methodist men of God, the remarkable breed of men known as the circuit riders, were greatly responsible for bringing order to the new frontier.

Early frontier Methodism was organized into classes of around 12 persons, who usually met at private homes once a week to review their sins, pay their tithes and receive spiritual encouragement from their lay leader. Their circuit rider preacher would come to town, usually once a month.

The first Methodist class or group of this kind in the Barrington vicinity was organized in 1840 at Barrington Center, in the Dundee Circuit. It had 8 members, including the Class Leader, John Allen. This group worshiped first in homes, then for 13 years in a stone school-house, which was located at the corner of Bateman and Algonquin Roads.

In 1853 a church, known as the Barrington Center Church, was built on the corner of Old Sutton Road and Dundee Road, in Miller’s Grove, (now Barrington Hills.) It was, a plain, neat frame edifice 34 feet by 52 feet, with a short steeple and a bell. Known as the Barrington Methodist Episcopal Society, the congregation flourished, and in 1858 was considered to be the strongest church in the Dundee Circuit with a membership of 85.

This church building still stands today on Illinois Route 68, repaired and enlarged with a picturesque cemetery beside it. Many of the early Methodist pioneers are buried there. Today it houses the New Friends Wesleyan Church, a Korean congregation. During the Civil War, this church was the gathering place for the entire rural area, and was used as a recruiting station. A large boulder stands in the church yard with a bronze tablet containing all of the names of the men in this area who fought in the Civil War and were recruited from this church in 1860.

The Northwestern Railroad came to the Barrington area in 1854, and more families begin moving to the small village, or “Barrington Station” as it was called then. Construction was begun in 1858 on a new church, more centrally located, at the corner of Ela and Franklin streets, site of the present St. Anne Catholic Church.

The church, a simple white frame colonial building complete with bell tower and spire, was finished in 1859. The bell was brought from the old Center church and installed with great ceremony. The new Barrington Station Church would seat about 125 persons and cost around $2,000. For several years the same pastor would preach in both churches, in the Center mornings and at the Station in the afternoon.

This new church served the community for over 12 years. By 1871, the year of the Great Chicago Fire, the town of Barrington Station had prospered and a larger church was needed. At this time, the church had 84 members and 6 probationary members. The Station Church was sold to the Catholics for $550 and became the first St. Anne Church. The ladies of the church were able to accumulate enough money to purchase a lot on Cook Street on which to erect a new church.

The new church on Cook Street in downtown Barrington was dedicated on December 22, 1872 with great fanfare. The building was immensely beautiful by the standards of the day, a two-story white frame building with two spires, and stained glass Gothic windows. The church and its furnishings, including a fine $500 organ, cost about $4,000. Services were lit by 87 oil lamps and the congregation was kept warm with two large drum stoves.

For fifty-seven years, the Cook Street Church was the focal point of many church and community activities. Records show that the downstairs meeting hall was in great demand for temperance meetings, literary societies, Epworth League, the Grand Army of the Republic meetings, lectures, concerts and a youth Social Center. As the years rolled by, changes had to be made. The steeple was lowered because it had been struck by lightning twice and twice rebuilt. Electric lights and a furnace were installed. In 1915, extensive improvements were made in the auditorium.