Right in front of you, you’ll spot a commanding red sandstone church with a steep roof, soaring rectangular tower topped with four little turrets, and dozens of tall, pointed stained glass windows-all sitting proudly at the busy corner of 18th Street and Central Avenue.
You’re about to step into a story that starts way back in 1867, when Cheyenne was still a wild, new frontier town. Picture Reverend W.W. Baldwin, a determined circuit rider from Colorado, bouncing into town to hold the very first Methodist service in City Hall. Just three months later, those thunderous Union Pacific rails rolled in-and Cheyenne’s streets went from prairie to bustling overnight. Pretty soon, nine brave folks joined together to form the town’s first Methodist Society, and a local doctor, Dr. D.W. Scott, even became their first minister.
Now, here’s where things get interesting-picture those folks scraping together a whole dollar to buy two empty lots from the railroad, then waiting for lumber shipped all the way from Chicago to build a modest little white-frame church. By 1871, Bishop Ames was dedicating it. But the church was just getting started! A few years later, some of the church’s Black members left to build their own African Methodist Episcopal Church a few blocks over.
By 1890, Cheyenne was booming, and so was this congregation. Time for an upgrade: enter architect J.P. Julien and builder Moses Patrick Keefe, who raised this stately red sandstone building you see now-at a whopping cost of $25,000 (plus $5,000 for furnishings, fancy, huh?). Services didn’t even stop during construction; the old church was dragged out into Central Avenue and folks kept gathering there for two and a half years!
And I’ve got a wild one for you-a Methodist minister here even married the legendary Wild Bill Hickok to Agnes Thatcher Lake. Five months after their “I do,” Wild Bill was shot in Deadwood.
So as you gaze at those 27 stained glass windows and the impressive stonework, just imagine the layers of joy, struggle, and good old Wyoming grit echoing through these walls. This church isn’t just a building-it’s a living, breathing piece of Cheyenne’s heart!
