BONNE TERRE HISTORY

The church has its roots in a log building that was located at School and Main Streets. Here, in June 1869, protestant worshippers started a Sunday School class. In 1875 the congregation moved to the school building. The church comprised a number of faiths and had no regular minister. In 1878 Dr. Charles Parsons and a Mr. Jones organized an eleven-member congregation and chose Rev. E. T. Doane as pastor. This group became the Christian Union Church of Bonne Terre. The building committee of the church chose Jesse Elvins, a carpenter foreman for St. Joe Lead Company, to construct a new building. The company donated the site. This church was completed on July 6, 1878. The rest of the century saw a number of pastors and a name change to the First Congregational Church of Bonne Terre. This was done on November 10, 1887 and marked completion of the church's renovation. The current church building was started on December 15, 1908 with a cornerstone ceremony on July 6, 1909. The church held a dedication ceremony on December 19, 1911. For more information, see Blackwell, Robert M., "Bonne Terre: The First Hundred Years", Bonne Terre Centennial Corporation, 1964. This book is available in the reference section of the library