The first group of members met on the sand dunes under the trees, then in the jail and finally in a little white schoolhouse.

From these people, the first Methodist Church was organized on Oct. 5, 1906. In the summer of 1907, they moved into the only brick structure in Gary, a factory at 22nd Avenue and Jefferson Street.

In 1909, they moved into the basement of their first church at 7th and Adams Street.

Construction of the church once known as First Methodist began in 1925, an era of economic boom barely 20 years after Gary was founded as a steel-making city.

United States Steel Corp. contributed more than half the project's cost of $650,000. Elbert Gary, who gave his name to the city, donated a Skinner organ.

In October 1926, the million-dollar Gothic cathedral at 6th and Washington Street was completed and dedicated. The sanctuary seated 950 worshippers, and in the church's heyday the congregation totaled nearly 3,000 members.

Social change in the 1960s affected the church, and by 1973 the congregation had dwindled to 300 members.

It officially closed in 1975.

Sources: DePauw University Archives; Historic Landmark Foundation of Indiana.