Maryland

“Would you like to go inside?”

“Well….ye-ah! Absolutely, I would.”

The gentleman had asked the question as he walked over to me from the picnic pavilion where he had been manning the money table at a church yard sale that was going on that beautiful autumn day. I had been walking around taking pictures of the old stone church trying my best to get a shot that didn’t include the cars and trucks that filled the parking lot. Guess he had noticed and thought to see if I’d be interested in a “tour”.

Of course, I wanted to go inside of the church, and I promptly told him so. Rarely do I get an opportunity to go inside the old churches that we spot when we’re out roaming around. Usually, I’m lucky if I get a good window low enough to let me peek inside and maybe take a few grainy photos of whatever happens to be in view of the window.

_{Apples Church Cemetery – Earliest birthdate 1696 –}
_{Includes graves from both Revolutionary & Civil Wars}

We would never have found this church by chance for it was a bit outside our planned adventure for that day. We’d driven up to Pryor’s Orchard on our annual quest for apples straight from the orchard with our friend, Inez, who’d started us on this annual fall roadtrip some ten years ago. So, in all those ten years of roaming around the area, we’d never even gotten close to this little stone church. Seriously, how would anyone have guessed that we would find Apples Church of Christ on Apples Church Road?

Like many things, we found it because we were looking for something else. Isn’t that always the way it is? We had been at the orchard inspecting the apples, sweet potatoes, squash, honey, beets, and other goodies for sale when I had eaves-dropped on another conversation and heard the proprietor telling a customer about the freshly homemade fried apple pies that you could buy over at the church. That’s all I needed to hear!

This was all a part of a big annual apple festival being held in Thurmont later that weekend. Thank goodness we were a few days early and didn’t run into the hundreds of people who would visit the town for the festival. On the other hand, we weren’t so early that we’d miss out on all the yard sales that would be going on before, during, and after the festival. AND part of that would be a church that was raising funds with a yard sale of their own that included freshly baked goods, i.e., fried apple pies. So, yes, you know that is exactly where we headed – as fast as our GPS could get us there.

Alas, we were not fast enough and got there just a little too late – the last pies had just been sold. (Yes, I am betting those ladies over at the orchard had gotten there ahead of us and bought up all the pies!). But there were consolation prizes – homemade cookies, lots of donated goods to buy, and a beautiful old stone church to explore. And you all know how much I love old churches!

Apples Church – how awesome that we find Apples Church on a day we are out buying apples! Okay. Interestingly enough, when I checked the history of the old church, it appears that it might have been named after the original landowner – one Peter Apfel – who donated an acre of land to the community for a schoolhouse on March 19, 1760² that eventually became the church. While Thurmont, Maryland includes quite a few apple orchards today, there might have been very few in the 1700s when early settlers came from southern Germany to this part of Maryland. An anglicized version of the landowner’s name is, of course, Apple. So, the church (and the road) was probably named after him and not named after the fruit at all.

_{Note the oil lamp stands on either side of the organ.}

As we entered the church, I was struck by its simplicity which enhances the feeling of serenity and beauty that fills the sanctuary. It seems that all churches are filled with that quiet peacefulness, but I find that the older the church, the more I sense the holiness of the place. It is as if all the prayers prayed, hymns sung, and sermons preached have imbued the very stones of the building with the essence of the souls who worshipped here over the centuries. When I enter old churches, I am always reminded of God warning Moses to remove his shoes as he was standing on holy ground. (Exodus 3:5). Invariably, I find myself lowering my voice to a whisper, pausing to reflect and just slowing down a bit to allow time to fully appreciate the beauty and sacredness of the church.

Our “guide”, Mike, gave us an overview of the history of the church from its beginning as a log building in 1765 to its upgrade to a stone church in 1826 at a whopping cost of $1306¹ with most of the work being completed by members of the congregation. The original stone church was a taller structure with galleries, tiered windows, a high wine-glass shaped pulpit¹, and wooden pews serving both the Lutherans and the Reformed congregants in the area. When it was remodeled in 1912, the galleries were removed, and the overall structure was lowered to its present height¹. Finally, in 1980, the interior was updated to be more energy efficient and comfortable for the parishioners¹.

The overall church structure is unusual to me in that there is no steeple or bell tower – just a modest one room sanctuary with a smaller entryway. It reminds me very much of Shaker meeting houses on the outside although the interior is very much the more usual Christian church. A separate “education” building was built in 1965 at the back of the church, but it is more modern so was not connected to the original stone building to preserve the historical aspects of the main church. I read from the history that both the log church and the stone church included a gun storage corner at the back of the sanctuary^1&2…. civilization had not yet arrived in this part of Maryland (and some would say, it still hasn’t).

Apples Church seems to have started small and pretty much stayed that way over time. Although, the building of the stone church was initiated to accommodate a growing congregation, the history shows that many of the pastors were “circuit riders” and served more than one church in the region at the time perhaps coming to Apples Church once a month or on alternate Sundays. The Lutheran part of the congregation moved over to a new church in Mechanicstown in 1857. Then the Reformed congregation moved over to Trinity Church in 1880 leaving Apples with very few remaining congregants¹.

The little stone church was pretty much abandoned for about five years until 1885 when thirty-five former members signed a petition pledging $80 a year towards the salary for a minister to re-establish the church². If you do the math, 35 times $80, it comes to $2800 per year. I’m not sure if that was the extent of the salary promised to a minister…maybe the United Church of Christ (UCC) added a share…. but it worked out and Apples Church has held services (for the most part) ever since that time. During the period from 1885 to 1980, Trinity Church provided pastors on alternate Sundays to Apples Church. The last full-time pastor was Beth Firme who served the congregation from August 23, 2021 to May 26, 2024². Since that time, the church has been served by Lay Personnel and Pulpit Support from other churches.

Mike, who graciously showed us around, was every bit the proud and faithful servant of the church. He seemed sad that the congregation was small and its members mostly older – a faithful few who continued to come for Sunday morning services no matter what – but he was optimistic that the congregation could still grow and he prayed that a new pastor would come and bring new life to the church.

“We pride ourselves as a congregation-powered group.”¹

As is our custom when we visit old churches, before we left, we paused to say a prayer for the church and its small congregation, that God would send a new pastor, and the congregation would be blessed for many years to come.

As for me, well…..I never did get a “clean” photo of the church since the yard sale was a pretty big deal and the parking lot stayed full the whole time we were there…but blessings come in many forms and spending a little time in the old stone church and hearing about it from someone who loves it was blessing enough…..not to mention the three small bags of homemade cookies that I bought at the yard sale.

Sources for Historical Information:

Sometime around a hundred and fifty years ago, give or take a few, a farmer named Charles Bishop and his wife, Mary, broke ground on a farm in eastern Maryland about five miles south of Snow Hill. According to the old family stories, Charles girdled a beech tree while clearing the land for the farm. Now, that must have been a pretty big tree for the act to have gotten everyone’s attention and, ultimately, provided a name for the community that grew up around the farm. Girdling is a process of cutting bark away in a circle around the tree that pretty much results in the death of the tree; it just takes a little time for nature to take its course but, eventually, the tree dies and falls. Why he didn’t just cut it down, we will never know. But he didn’t and family and friends noticed, and the new village became known by as Girdletree.

Girdletree was and is a “crossroads” village. The particular roads being crossed are Maryland Route 12 and Onley & Boxiron Road. It started out as a sleepy little village until the Worcester Railroad came through in 1876 connecting Snow Hill and Franklin City. The railroad brought prosperity and the town grew becoming a shipping point for oysters, crab, and fish from Chincoteague Island just down the road in Virginia’s eastern neck. Chincoteague has the reputation of having the sweetest and best tasting oysters on the eastern seaboard of the United States…if not the world. Ask anyone who lives year-round on the island. They will be happy to tell you about their wonderful fish and seafood. It seemed that the world wanted those oysters and the good folks of Girdletree were right there to help by shipping it all out from Taylor’s Landing. At one point there were seven canneries processing seafood out of Girdletree…oysters were not only good business for Chincoteague, they helped feed the families around Girdletree too.

Things were going great economically…. good enough for George L. Barnes & Co to build a brand spanking new brick bank in 1902. Most every other building in town was “stick built” or primarily built of wood which was typical for homes in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Unfortunately, prosperity didn’t last. In 1929, the Great Depression hit and the economy of Girdletree failed. People probably weren’t gonna buy fancy seafood when they couldn’t buy bread. Barnes Bank closed in 1930. I suppose the canneries closed too soon thereafter. The old bank building is still standing as a museum and historical building on MD 12 in what’s left of the town of Girdletree.

Fast forward that hundred and fifty or so years and we (my fellow wanderer and I) found ourselves on a road we hadn’t taken before. We’d been down to Chincoteague looking for birds. We try to go at least once each year in autumn or winter after the “summer people” have gone on back home and the island once again belongs to the locals. Things quiet down in winter and the beach clears and it’s a good time to go birding at the seashore and on the refuge (Assateague Island). We’d had a good day birding and were on the way home using a new GPS which directed us to make a turn we hadn’t taken before. It was a beautiful day, and we love nothing more than to meander around so we decided to just go with it.

We were heading up the road towards Snow Hill when we caught sight of a lovely old church by the side of the road. We passed it but then turned around and went back to get a couple photographs. I love taking pictures of old churches and this church was a bit unusual as the steeple was just to one side of the church and not in the front center like most other churches. It definitely needed to be photographed. Turns out we were in the once-again sleepy little community of Girdletree and the church was the Girdletree Methodist Church, one of two churches originally established in the town.

I got out of the car to take a few pictures of the church. I noticed the Barnes Bank across the highway and walked over to the roadside to get a photo of the bank. When I turned back, I was met by a nice older lady with a small can of paint in her hand. She wondered if I was from the paper because she had seen me taking pictures and thought maybe I was going to do an article on the fund-raising efforts to get a new roof for the church. So, across the street she came to see what exactly I was up to. I told her that I wasn’t from the local paper or anything and that I just liked old churches and this one was nice because the steeple was on the side and somewhat unusual to me.

“Well”, she says, “That’s not the original steeple, it burned in 1940 and it was replaced in 1960.”

She said that the church hadn’t had a steeple when it was first built, and it was added maybe around 1929. A bad storm caused the fire in 1940 and she remembered her granddaddy and grandmama talking in later years about when the steeple burned. (The church itself was built in the late 1800’s and enlarged with the bell tower (steeple) and front addition at the later date.)

She had noticed that I had noticed the small paint can she was carrying and told me she was painting her granddaddy’s store across the street. I had not wanted to be rude and ask why she was carrying that can of paint around. She pointed over at the old store front and said that she had painted the trim around the window a few days ago but she didn’t like the green paint she had used so was now painting over it with white.

I asked if she lived in the house by the old store and she said she didn’t; she lived in the large old faded yellow house that was two buildings up. She was born in 1938 and grew up around here as she circled her arm indicating right there around the old store. I asked if she had been born there but she said she hadn’t and she pointed somewhere off to the west and said she’d been born out at the family farm over there.

We continued to chat, and I finally got around to asking her name which was Sandra. She told me all about the church and her childhood repeating some things like those of us who are a little older are apt to do. The old church, while not abandoned completely, needs too many repairs and, no, they don’t have church there anymore.

Girdletree Methodist Church Sign (unusual to have stained glass tokens on a church sign)

Ms. Sandra said the church closed in 1969 and had been deeded to the Historical Foundation who was trying to raise the funds for the new roof. The congregation has moved on to another church in the area although the old fellowship hall out back which is newer and a bit more restored is rented out by another church for its services. The other folks from that other church had done a lots to fix it up…you just wouldn’t believe all they’d done and how nice it looked.

Ms. Sandra had to get back to her painting so she headed on back across the road and we had to get back on the road headed home but her shared memories left me with a warm feeling for the town and church and a little girl named Sandra who’d been born there and never left. I imagine her going to church with her granddaddy and grandmama way back when the steeple was newly built after the first one had burned. I see them there standing in the sanctuary singing hymns and bowing their heads to pray as the sunlight filters through the stained-glass windows painting the air with the beauty of the Lord’s love and goodness. All that remains now are the blessings and prayers that once filled the church and the memories of that young girl that have sustained her for all the days of her life.

Sources for Factual Information:

Maryland Historical Trust Inventory # WO-321: Girdletree, Maryland.

Birding Boomers

Out on another road trip looking for birds and whatever comes up next.

Apples & Prayers

Girdletree