Methodism in Wellsburg dates back to 1787 with the establishment of the Ohio Circuit. Early services were held in The Academy on High Street, and Bishop Asbury preached at the courthouse on September 6, 1803. On April 19, 1816, John Prather, son of the founder of Wellsburg, deeded this site to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the erection of a meeting house, to be used as a Methodist house of worship forever. The first church on this site was a frame structure that stood until it was destroyed by fire in 1852. The present building was built in 1853, survived the disastrous flood of 1936 and a major fire in 1989, and after restoration was rededicated to the Glory of God on March 18, 1990 by Bishop William Boyd Grove of the West Virginia Conference.