In 1891, the president of the United States was Benjamin Harrison. It was a time alternately known as the Gay Nineties and, satirically, the Gilded Age, referencing widespread corruption. It was also the beginning of the Progressive Era that fought against that corruption. During 1891, Tchaikovsky conducted at the opening of Carnegie Hall in New York, and Thomas Edison received a patent for his motion picture camera.

The origin of the Congregational Church in Tryon can be traced to a Sunday School class open to people of all denominations conducted by Dr. Oscar Stuart Missildine in 1891. The location of the class was in a building on Melrose Avenue where the current church stands.

The original white-frame building was owned by the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Tryon. The Northern Methodists bought the land in 1885 for the purpose of establishing a church, but the venture was unsuccessful.

A meeting was held on Aug. 20, 1891 that determined the establishment of a Congregational Church. There were 12 charter members who adopted the name “The United Church of Christ in Tryon.” This was prophetic because, in 1957, the Congregational, Christian, Evangelical, and Reformed churches united to form a new denomination called “The United Church of Christ (UCC).” The first worship service was held on Sept. 27, 1891. Dr. Missildine’s father, Rev. A.H. Missildine, Congregational Missions superintendent for the state of Florida, gave the sermon.

By the terms of the deed, the Methodists were required to find a buyer who would continue to use the land for religious purposes, and, in 1892, the land and meeting house were purchased for $100 by the new church. Dr. Oscar Stuart Missildine, having moved to Tryon from Missouri just a few years earlier, died on July 16, 1895 at the age of 29. He left behind his wife and son, Ernest Ellwood Missildine, who would become a druggist and establish Missildine’s Drug Store in 1913.

The Congregational Church of Tryon is proud to be an integral part of Tryon’s history and community for the past 125 years. For more, visit ucctryon.org or find them on Facebook at The Congregational Church, Tryon N.C., United Church of Christ.

– article submitted by The Congregational Church of Tryon, Mark Byington