Religious Structures of Dryden
Varna United Methodist Church
965 Dryden Road, Rte 366, Ithaca
The earliest religious services in Varna began with the Baptists in 1804 and others including the Methodists could attend. By 1832, a small Baptist group had formed and met regularly in the village schoolhouse. In 1842, $1420.75 had been pledged for their own edifice and the next year it was completed as The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Varna. Their minister also had to preside over Methodist Episcopal groups at the Ellis Hollow schoolhouse until 1895, at Etna until 1898, and at Forest Homes, then called Free Hollow, until 1914. In 1865 a parsonage was built next door, costing $6500. About ten years later, they purchased the church bell. The 1880s and 90s were peak years for the church and it was called the Community Methodist Church at that time. They did $800 of remodeling. Their stable membership called for them to lift up the building and put a basement underneath for more space and better heat in 1922, and a few years later electricity was installed. Improvements were again made in ’34, ‘67, and ’72. There was an active Presbyterian Church in Varna which was discontinued about 1865, the building then taken down, and moved to Brooktondale.
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