219 Hardwick Street - Methodist Church

The first Methodist services in Belvidere were held in 1786. Pioneer preachers of the Methodist Episcopal denomination held services in various homes as early as 1810-1812, but a church was first organized in 1825 at The Wesleyan Chapel, corner of Market Street and Delaware Avenue (the church graveyard is still there). It seated 300 persons, men on the right side of the sanctuary and women on the left. Two wood stoves provided heat.

In 1847, the original building was deemed inadequate for the congregation's needs. But controversy over a new location was magnified by rivalry between the north and south sides of town. As an inducement to locate the new church on the north side, Theodore S. Paul offered to present the trustees with a lot of land on Market Street where the Second Presbyterian Church was later built. Dr. J. Marshall Paul agreed to supplement the gift with a contribution of $200. The Hon. Garret D. Wall, in laying out the town plot on the south side of the Pequest had set apart three lots facing the public square for church purposes. He offered the church its present site on Hardwick Street opposite the park, even though congregants complained it was much too far to one side of the town (two blocks south of the Pequest River, the dividing line). The trustees instead looked into purchasing a lot on the corner of Mill and Front Streets, a plan that fell through.

In 1848, the trustees decided to demolish the old church. To keep the trustees from changing their minds, the next morning the Rev. David Graves (1848-1850) assured commitment to the church project by beginning to knock down the church walls. He was joined by several members of the congregation, and the structure was soon razed to the ground.

Until a new church could be built, services were held in the courthouse, and it was finally resolved to accept the offer made by Gen. Wall. In July 1849, the cornerstone on Hardwick St. was laid. The main audience room (sanctuary) was not completed until 1855.

1868 brought 175 new members into the church. The sanctuary was deemed too small and space for 40 new pews and three new classrooms were added. Electric lights were added in 1912 and ten stained glass windows were added by 1923. From 1946-1949 the sanctuary was again renovated, including replacing the aged pipe organ with a new electronic one. By 1976, the church and parsonage exterior received a brick facing, as seen today.