History

Our  church was the first in Baraboo, thus often called “Baraboo First”. It was organized in 1842 by The Reverend  Thomas Fullerton, a Methodist circuit rider. The “Methodist Class”  that he organized started with 3 members, all Methodist immigrants. For a time  they met in homes and in the old court house. By 1849, the congregation had  grown to the point that they decided to build a church building. In late 1849,  they erected the first church building in Baraboo. It was a rough board  building that stood on the Southeast corner of 5th St. and Broadway. That  building was soon deemed to be too small, so they built a much larger one at  the same location. The new church building was dedicated in 1853 and was used  until 1898. By the late 1890s, the congregation had once again outgrown their  building. The trustees took action and in three years built the current church  building and a parsonage at the Northwest corner of 4th and Broadway. The  building was completed in 1898 and has been in continuous use to the present  day.

Our church bell, cast in New York State in 1853, was installed in the building at 5th and  Broadway in time to ring for the 1854 4th of July celebration. When the  congregation moved to the current building, they paid the sum of $10 to have  the 795 lb. bell moved from the old building to the new one. It still rings  today to summon the faithful to worship.