Sunday great day for local history buffs

Sunday is going to be a great day for Greene County history buffs.

If you're interested in the early days of our county, there's a day-long event happening at the Methodist Church in Worthington that you won't want to miss.

To mark the 175th anniversary of their church, they're planning a celebration that includes a look back at early church services complete with a circuit riding preacher and afternoon guided tours of Old Point Commerce.

There are records of circuit riders visiting our area, to Point Commerce, early in the 1800s.

Point Commerce was a once-thriving settlement high on a bluff above the White River at its junction with Eel River. In those days, rivers were the interstates and it was at this point one could head north toward Indy, south toward the Ohio or northwest toward Terre Haute. It was a busy place and the Methodist Church got started up on that hill 175 years ago.

It was not until the late 1840s that many people started moving down across the river into the area that is now Worthington. That continued through the 1850s boosted by the canal system that came through town. The Worthington Times started publishing in 1853 -- not only the first newspaper in Greene County but the entire region. The closest one at that time was in Vincennes.

It's a popular belief that the town basically moved down after large numbers of the residents at the Point fell victim to the plague in the late 1840s. No doubt that tragedy had an impact but I think the main reason Point fizzled and Worthington started was financial -- to be near the canals as well as the rivers offered much more opportunity for business.

Modern day Methodists are not only going to recognize their past on Sunday, they want to share it with the public. Take advantage of their offer if you can because it's a chance to see a slice of not just their history but the county's history.

Up until the 1850s, the Point was "the place" around here. The place is still there but it's not a town. There are several homes up on the Point and one of them dates back to the Point's heyday. The Point lies just off the beaten path -- some maybe don't know where it is. There are no signs, no historical markers, no real indication that anything important ever happened there, but it's a beautiful spot.

If you take a drive to the Point, you won't know what was where. Lucky for us, throughout their long history, the Methodists have maintained a detailed history of their church and have done a lot of research.

On Sunday, their historians are going to give a guided tour of Old Point Commerce. There will be ice cream at the original home and then they'll point out the location of their church as well as other old places like the Junction House.

The little settlement of current day residents on the Point enjoys living in a peaceful, park-like setting with little traffic and I feel certain they will never be inviting hordes of lookers into the area by erecting any tourist signs or arrows pointing the way. Tours of the Point are few and far between.

So Sunday offers a unique opportunity -- more detailed information will be published in the paper.

The church is expecting many visitors like you -- go for the history and get a little bit of old-time preaching too!

Anna is a staff writer at the Greene County Daily World and may be reached by calling 847-4487 or by sending an e-mail to indianarose@fastmail.us