Mich. Church Gets Sent to Historic Farm

GRAYLING, Mich. – Built in 1889, seldom used since 1990 and decaying, Stittsville Church didn’t seem to have a prayer. But it’s getting a new lease on life.

The church will be moved Wednesday to Wellington Farm Park, a living history farm southwest of Grayling.

The church will be a good fit at the 60-acre farm, where things are “as it would have been in 1932,” said Howard Taylor, who owns Wellington Farm Park.

Vintage equipment and methods are used there to cultivate produce and keep a farm stand stocked through the growing season.

The church will keep its name and will be dedicated to the memories and history of Stittsville, an unincorporated crossroads about 20 miles northeast of Cadillac in Missaukee County, Taylor added.

“It was just deteriorating. It wasn’t being used for anything,” said Martha Johnson, a member of the bygone congregation, told the Traverse City Record-Eagle recently. “It was very hard to watch that.”

The $50,000 needed to move the church was raised through private donations, grants and a series of chicken dinners. Up to $250,000 is needed for restoration efforts and to construct an education center, modern restrooms and a garden area.

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On the Net:

http://www.wellingtonfarmpark.org/