Snapshots of History by Mike Avitt

By Editor | October 21, 2026 |

Two weeks ago I wrote about Ringgold County rural schoolhouses and where they were as of 1997. That article was based on a three-ring binder compiled by Bob and Kay Sickels and that binder is housed in the Mount Ayr Public Library’s basement. Not many people know it is there.
Another historical effort with little notoriety also has a home in the library’s basement and that is two, three-ring binders compiled by Bobbi Bainum, Dorothy Main and possibly others, concerning Ringgold County Church history. I was just today looking at those binders to refresh my memory.
The information contained within is composed mostly of newspaper clippings, photos, programs, manuscripts, centennial book scans, history pamphlets, etc. Some of the photos are ones I took in the 2006 era.
I recently was asked about two church histories: Shannon City Methodist and Mount Ayr Free Methodist. The Shannon City church was dedicated October 20, 1889 and is located about three blocks north of the Union/Ringgold line. The church closed briefly in 2007 (the binders contain the Creston News-advertiser article), and reopened under new ownership a couple of weeks later. If that church were in Ringgold County, it would be the fourth-oldest active church in the county.
Free Methodist services began in southern Ringgold County in the 1890s. The congregations usually met in rural schoolhouses. The first church building got its start in 1947 when a basement was constructed at the intersection of Madison and Tyler streets in Mount Ayr. Mabel Messenger was the pastor at this time. A church building was built on the basement and dedicated May 20, 1951. The Record-News reported the construction was made possible by the dismantling of a church in Polk City and the sections being brought to Mount Ayr.
Middle Fork United Methodist Church has two interesting points — it was the first church building to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places (1990) and it is the only church in Ringgold County without an indoor toilet. So, easy on the coffee. The building was dedicated Thanksgiving Day 1886 and is still active.
Fry Chapel was built in 1887 six miles south of Mount Ayr and is still active today as part of the Kellerton Assembly of God Church. It was moved there in 1952.
Sanford Clutter’s house at 401 E. Madison St. in Mount Ayr was built as a Church of Christ in 1958. The garage at 403 S. Douglas St. was the first Lutheran Worship Center in 1964.
This week’s picture shows the Methodist Episcopal Church in Beaconsfield about 1912. It was built in 1911 and burned in 1949. It was the second church in Ringgold County to be made of brick or stone. Diagonal was the first in early 1911 and Mount Ayr was third 1911-12.
It would be nice if more “esoteric” volumes of Ringgold County history were available online and maybe someday they will be.

Posted in Snapshot of History by Mike Avitt