The first church on the site was a larger, two-story building erected in 1805. Because it was too big and unheated, it was torn down in June 1846. The replacement church, built with much of the old structure’s material, was ready in November of the same year.

The congregation once numbered 300, but it split over doctrinal differences. A membership of about 163 in the mid-1800s eventually dwindled to the point where a minister could not be paid and weekly services could not be supported, but a few members were determined that the church would not be closed and left to the ravages of time and weather.

The people who worshipped in these buildings in the early 1800s included men of international stature. William C. Ladd, known as “the apostle of peace,” lived across the road. He advocated principles that led to the Congress of Nations, League of Nations and the United Nations.

Eda Tripp, a noted Ladd historian, said winter sermons at the old unheated church would go on all day, and women would take noontime breaks at Ladd’s nearby mansion to warm their feet.

Another major benefactor of the historic church was Crosby Noyes, a famous newspaper columnist and writer who became owner of the Washington Star newspaper who was born in Minot in 1825.

– David A. Sargent