The First Methodist Church

Methodism in Warren began with Rev. Daniel Smith's sermon in 1789, followed by Rev. Jesse Lee preaching in homes in 1790 and 1791, and a church was organized in the fall of 1792 under the charge of Rev. Ezekiel Cooper. Its first church edifice, erected in 1794, was the first Methodist church in Rhode Island and the second in New England. After several enlargements, continued congregational growth led to construction of the present building, completed in 1845, designed by Fall River architect Perez Mason and built by the Warren firm of Hoar & Mason as a vernacular Greek Revival church with a portico of massive fluted Doric columns, a full pediment, and a prominent five-stage steeple. The steeple, visible by day and lit at night, served for decades as a navigational guide for homeward-bound sailors. Warren was also damaged during the British raid of 1778: after General George Washington ordered an invasion of Aquidneck Island, Warren shipwrights built 70 flat-bottom boats and hid them with supplies and gunpowder at the Kickemuit River stone bridge, but on May 25, 500 British and Hessian soldiers landed near Bristol, marched to Warren, burned the boats and supplies, blew up a powder magazine that destroyed six houses and the town's meeting place, damaged military stores, homes, religious and municipal buildings, and then returned to Aquidneck Island.

Warren, Rhode Island · United States