The year 1816 became known worldwide as the cold year, the famine year, and the year without a summer, and Vermonters called it Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death as snow fell on June 7 and frosts came every subsequent month. The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia was surely the cause, as volcanic ash spread throughout much of the world. In Vermont, the loss of crops and livestock, coupled with economic collapse after the War of 1812, caused some 15,000 people to migrate west. A religious revival begun nationally in 1800 intensified in Vermont amid the darkness and frigidity of 1816. In Bethel, five denominations united to build a Federal-style brick house of worship inspired by the published designs of architect Asher Benjamin, and it was consecrated on Christmas Eve 1816. Members of the United Church of Bethel celebrated their building's 200th anniversary in 2016 with events culminating in a bicentennial service on Christmas Eve.