Elmira’s historic First Baptist Church is crumbling. Will it be saved?

ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – The historic First Baptist Church at Wisner Park, which has stood in Elmira for 132 years, is falling apart. The Elmira Code Department says there is “imminent danger of collapsing bricks on the exterior of the structure.” Signs posted on the doors on June 11th say the structure is “unsafe.”

The church and its congregation were also a part of the Underground Railroad, led by the efforts of sexton John W. Jones , who escaped slavery in Virginia in 1844.

The first Baptist Church was built in 1830. The church expanded to a second, larger property in 1847. After it was damaged by a fire, a third structure was built in 1892, which still stands today. The First Baptist Church closed its doors in 2009. It was sold to a private owner the following year and has been vacant since.

The historic church is among 112 properties included in the City of Elmira’s July edition of its “Fight on Blight” list of worst landlords . The Code Department told 18 News the city plans to sue the owner, Laurentiu Marian, for failing to make necessary repairs. The Code Department says the cost of demolishing the structure could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, a move the city hopes to avoid.

County Property Records show it was purchased by Mr. Marian in October of 2010 for $82,750 . The church had closed its doors in 2009. 18 News has tried to contact Mr. Marian on multiple occasions since last year. Today we stopped by an address associated with Mr. Marian. Nobody answered the door. A phone number listed for Mr. Marian has been disconnected.

“The current Baptist Church that stands there was built in 1892,” said Rachel Dworkin, the archivist at the Chemung County Historical Society . “It was designed by Pierce & Dockstader, who are a local architectural firm.” Eventually, Dockstader split from Pierce, who went on to form the “Pierce & Bickford” architectural firm, so that’s that part of that lineage.”

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“We have the blueprints for the church, they’re very elaborate. It was sort of a transitional period. Earlier churches tended to be one room kind of things. But that was part of the community church movement where you would not only have the room where you have worship, but you would also have classrooms and meeting rooms and offices,” Dworkin added. “So, this is a large, expansive church and it was one of the earlier parts of this movement towards community churches. They had the sanctuary, but they also had a couple of meeting rooms on the first floor, and then offices and classrooms on the second floor. They also had a basketball court slash stage on the second floor. So, it was a pretty substantial church.”

“Was it also connected to the Underground Railroad?” asked 18 News reporter Nick Dubina.

“It was,” Dworkin replied. “John W. Jones was a Sexton of the church starting in 1847 after he came to Elmira, and he worked there for about 50 years. As part of his work at the church, he was involved in the Underground Railroad. There were a number of other people involved in the church who helped finance his work, and occasionally he would hide fugitives, either in the church or in his home behind the church,” Dworkin said.

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The current structure on 121 W Church Street is the third Baptist Church built in Elmira.

“Their first building was built in 1830,” Dworkin said. “The second building was built in 1847. The third building, which is the one that currently stands was built in 1892.” The second building built in 1847 was later damaged by fire, leading to construction of the building still standing today.

The church closed its doors in 2009 due to declining attendance.

“It combined with the Southside Baptist Church as a result of declining membership, and then that still wasn’t enough to fully state sustain it,” Dworkin said. “They ended up selling both buildings, both the Southside Baptist Church and the First Baptist Church and then moving to a smaller space that they were actually renting from Trinity Episcopal Church. Then the Trinity Episcopal Church closed.”

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The Chemung County Historical Society has an original pulpit on display right now from the church that was built in 1847.

“When the church closed, they gave us 20-some-odd boxes of records from the church, plus copies of the original blueprints plus a number of artifacts, including the church silver and this pulpit and a number of other items.”

You can view the full interview with Rachel Dworkin below:

Former Elmira Mayor and local historian Jim Hare sent 18 News a copy of an article he wrote about the history of the First Baptist Church. Here is the article in full:

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH – by Jim Hare, Former Elmira Mayor

When the first Methodist circuit rider arrived in the Chemung valley in 1792, he had been warned to be aware of “bears, blizzards and Baptists.” Perhaps he was aware that “Baptist activity” in the area was underway. “Parson” Goff had been preaching to neighborhood gatherings in the vicinity of Wellsburg as early as 1789. Ironically, over two hundred years later in 2019, the United Baptists of Elmira and the New Beginnings United Methodists share the same building at 300 E. Miller St. Worshipping at separate times, they are friendly between services. The Baptist congregation established in Wellsburg was not only the parent church for the Baptist community, but indeed the mother church for Chemung County. In 1829, the Southport and Elmira Baptist Church was organized. According to the Elmira Telegram on March 30, 1930, a council of churches “was constituted by delegates from the churches at Big Flats and Elmira and Springfield and Canton, Pennsylvania” to formalize the church a year after Elmira had been incorporated as a village. Two years afterward in 1831 the society was legally recognized by act of the Legislature and twenty years later on April 11, 1849, the act organizing the “Baptist Church and congregation of the Towns of Southport and Elmira was confirmed. On June 24, 1853, the name was changed to the First Baptist Church of Elmira.” The Reverend Philander D. Gillette, “an enthusiastic and eloquent” man is credited with the church’s establishment and organization. Being married to a daughter of Jeffrey Wisner was an important connection. Charles Mathews Jr. wrote for the Star Gazette, “for some time, meetings were held in private homes. In 1832, Jeffrey Wisner sold the present location of the church (121 West Church Street) to the body for $1.50 stipulating in the deed that unless a church building was erected on it, it should revert to his possession.” The entire cost of the first structure was $954. The first church was small, and by 1848, a larger building was needed. Dedicated on January 24, 1849, it seated “more persons than any other church in the village.” (Star Gazette, November 14, 2004) Thirty eight members had founded the church and during the first half of the 19th century the church thrived. In fact, the community of faith in Elmira, in all denominations, witnessed a growth in numbers and new construction as the second half the century got underway in what today would be considered downtown. The following churches were built: the Hedding Methodist Episcopal Church in 1852 (now the Neighborhood Community Center), cornerstone for St. Peter and Paul’s laid in 1854, the current Trinity Episcopal Church held its first service in 1858, a new building for the First Presbyterian Church (where Elm Chevrolet now stands) in 1862, Lake St. Presbyterian Church in 1862, Grace Episcopal Church in 1866, St. Patrick’s Church dedicated in 1872, the Park Church in 1875, the First Methodist Church rebuilt after fire in 1886, formerly on Baldwin St., and the United Church of Christ (the German Church) in 1899. It should also be noted that beyond “downtown” St. Casimirs was dedicated in 1889 as was North Presbyterian Church. The following year St. John’s at the corner of Lake and Second Streets was dedicated. All of this a remarkable statement about religion in Elmira at that time. Remarkable and long serving religious leaders also dominated the landscape. The Rev. Thomas K. Beecher was in charge of Park Church from 1854 until his death in 1900. The Rev. George McKnight was at Trinity Episcopal from 1869-1905. Father James J. Bloomer was priest at St. Patrick’s Church from 1870-1931 and the Rev. William T. Henry, D.D. was pastor at the First Baptist Church from 1877-1921, his first and only pastorate. Like the Rev. Beecher and Father Bloomer, Dr. Henry was a builder. He was born January 16, 1849 in New York City. He graduated from Colgate Academy in 1870 and from Madison (now Colgate University) in 1874 at the head of his class at both schools. In 1876, he graduated from Hamilton Theological Seminary and his first call was Elmira in 1877. He never left. When Dr. Henry first arrived the membership of the church was 346. At his 25th anniversary membership stood at 1,185. The second building had been built in 1848, raised and enlarged in 1875. Damaged by fire in 1880 it became necessary to build a new church. In 1889 it was demolished in preparation for new construction. The current building was designed by Pierce and Dockstader (forerunner of Pierce and Bickford). It is Romanesque in style and uses Hummelstown sandstone trim to ornament the windows and doors. Roger Reed in a book on Pierce and Bickford, wrote that it was, “imposing for its bold silhouette.” The Elmira Gazette Daily and Free Press reported on May 16, 1892, “Yesterday was the day set apart for the first service…It was a typical spring day, warm, fragrant and bright. The feelings of nature seemed to blend poetically with the inspirations of the 1,300 worshippers who thrice gathered within the walls of the new church and listened to the stirring and earnest words of prayer and praise and the beautiful music of the sweet toned organ accompanied by hundreds of voices.” The Rev. Beecher and many others shared the message with Dr. Henry. On September 20, 2009 the First Baptist Church held a Decommissioning Service. In 2011, the building was sold to private interests." Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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