SRHS
Steamboat Rock Historical Society
Growing Beyond Their Dreams
UNIVERSALIST
There isn’t really a great deal known about the Universalist Church at Steamboat Rock. It was the fourth church to organize in Steamboat and the third to erect a building. They were organized by a few of the eastern settlers sometime in the spring of 1875. By late fall of that same year they had raised a 28’ x 48’ building and dedicated it on November 5, 1875.
According to the Eldora Reform Herald, the building was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies by Rev. Hanson of Chicago. It went on to say that a large attendance filled the building to capacity.
This photo is one of only a few photos of the Universalist Church. Below is a photo looking south on Third Street showing the Universalist Church on the left and the Methodist Church on the right. The Universalist building can also be seen to the left of the school in the photo on page 42.
After the service $1000 was raised by subscription, enough to erase the entire debt and start free of debt. It is not known if the price of the building was $1000 or if some money had been raised and spent prior to its completion. It is not known who the first pastor was or who any of the members were other than L.E. Campbell, who mentioned that he had helped in construction of the building in one of his diaries. He had returned to Steamboat Rock from living in Chicago in 1871.
The Reform Herald described the new church as the neatest tidiest and most cozy place to worship in the section.