German pioneers who began settling this area in 1828 formed Monroe County's first Lutheran church here in 1834. The Rev. Friedrich Schmid became their first pastor, traveling by horseback from Ann Arbor. The growing congregation incorporated as Zoar Church in 1838 and built a log church. Trinity and Zion in Monroe, Holy Ghost in Raisinville, and Immanuel in Ida all developed from Zoar by 1849. Zoar became St. Paul's Lutheran in 1858, completing a one-room brick church here in 1860. The larger church built here in 1873 testifies to the enduring faith of this Lutheran country congregation.