Chestertown Flashback: Janes United Methodist Church

As May is National Historic Preservation Month, we thought we would share a Flashback Photo of a Kent County site that is both historic and has undergone a number of preservation efforts over the year. The current Janes United Methodist Church building on the corner of Cross and Cannon Streets, and pictured here in an undated photo, was dedicated on November 8, 1914, was the church’s third building, and is on its third site. Construction had started on March 1, 1914 with the laying of the cornerstone, only to be delayed when a fire destroyed much of downtown. The roof was replaced during a larger renovation project in 1992, but due to the use of faux slate, fiber-cement shingles, it was a matter of less than a decade before the roof again began to need attention. In 2020, those shingles had been replaced by a new, historically-appropriate slate roof tiles expected to last 90+ years.

A QUICK QUIZ: What is the name of the 1,000 pound bell, first acquired by the church in 1909 and the only piece of the church that survived the 1914 fire? If you know, please put it in the comments below, or email the answer to [email protected]. Image courtesy of Historical Society of Kent County.