Old East Village Commerical Corridor

This past winter semester I was busy with the War of 1812 smartphone app and interactive exhibit design projects, both of which I discussed at length on this blog.  For the public history program I had to choose a third course to fullfill my requirements.  The program is pretty flexible with electives, and many of my classmates took courses outside the history department such as "Principles in Applied Archeology" or "Land Claims and Primary Historical Research."  After exploring some of my options - both within and outside of the history department - I couldn't decide which course to take, nothing had really captured my attention.  That's when I started to look into developing my own course with an independent study.

The previous semester I had done some mapping using ArcGIS and enjoyed it more than I had anticipated.  I looked into taking a GIS course in the Geography departments, but I had some inside information that because of a change in TAs from the previous year it might not have as much of a historical bent as in the past.  So I decided to approach a couple of people I knew in the Geography department (see, it's all about knowing the right people...) about being an instructor for an independent study.  I asked the rest of the Public History crew if they were interested in joining me.  That's how Douglas McGlynn and I ended up spending our winter semester researching the historic commercial buildings of Old East Village in London, Ontario.

Building upon and updating some research that had been conducted a few years ago in the Geography department, Douglas and I used ArcGIS Online to create an interactive map that describes the architectural changes that took place over time to the commercial corridor of Old East Village.  Using city directories, fire insurance plans, historic and modern photographs we tracked how these buildings changed over time, not only in looks but in use as well.

If you would like to learn a bit more about it, head over Old East Village Commercial Corridor project website!

Significance of Built Heritage - Ada First United Methodist Church

Yesterday, while working at Fanshawe Pioneer Village, I was reviewing some  archival boxes filled with information about the buildings in the Village.  I was particularly impressed with the documentation regarding the efforts of a congregation to preserve their church building by raising funds to have it moved to the Village, as the congregation had vacated.  There were numerous fundraising letters, newspaper articles, and photos.  This was clearly a community effort, they saw this structure as an important part of their built heritage.

Ada First UMC

Today, that point hit home for me.  Shortly after noon, a fire broke out at 301 North Main Street, Ada, Ohio.  In a matter of minutes, the entire Ada First United Methodist Church building was engulfed in flames.  This is the church I was raised in, am a member of, and still consider home.  Let me put it this way - I lived in three houses growing up in Ada, I only attended one church.

Photo by Anna Guillozet

Being in another country, I found out about it the way I get much of my news these days - through Facebook.  Almost immediately my news feed was full of photos and even videos of the building consumed by flames.  I contacted my parents - who were amazed that I knew about it already - and they passed on what information they had.  Everyone was safe, the fire was still burning and the damage extensive, and though nearby buildings had sparked from the ashes fire crews had the blaze under control.

Memories of a community member

Responses to the fire on my Facebook news feed were urgent and emotional.  I was also feeling emotional watching it all unfold on social media.  There were comments and memories from fellow congregants, which I expected - but what struck me was the attachment that other members of the community had to the church building, even if they did not regularly attend services.  This structure, dedicated in 1899, was definitely an important part of Ada's built heritage.

Community Blanket featuring Ada First

Built heritage is defined as the unique and irreplaceable architecture with historic background that merits preservation for future generations.  In small towns especially, it is an important part of the residents' sense of space.  In a village the size of Ada - about 5,800 people - nearly everyone has a connection with a church building like Ada FUMC.  It sat on a prominent corner of Main Street.  Numerous community organizations used the basement: Head Start, 4-H, Girl Scouts, Kiwanis, Red Cross, and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.  This is a case where not only is the church an significant part of the community identity and heritage, but the structure itself as well.  This experience has quite literally brought home the importance of preserving our built heritage.

My 6^th grade Sunday School Class

I’m the second from the left

On a more personal note, I would like to stress that as devastating a loss this is to the architectural heritage of Ada, the damage was only to the structure and thank God no one was hurt.  As the song goes, "the church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people."




For more information on the history of Ada First United Methodist Church - congregation and building - see Celebrating a Century: Reflections of Faith 1899-1999.