Image: Webster Methodist Church, Webster, NC (32741166348)

Description: This is the Webster Methodist Church, located on Webster Road in the center of town. Constructed in 1887, the wood-frame Gothic Revival-Style Church was built when Webster was the thriving county seat of Jackson County, and the area around it was full of homes and businesses that made up the commercial district of the town. Due to many factors, including the failure of a planned railroad line to serve the town, Webster went into decline beginning around the turn of the 20th Century, furthered when the county seat and courthouse was moved to Sylva in 1914, leading to a mass exodus of businesses and people from the town, which dissolved. Though some construction did occur in the intervening years and a few businesses held on for several decades, by the time the town was re-incorporated in 1953, there was no local business district to speak of, and the main anchors of the town were the school and churches. The Methodist Church received a small rear addition in 1933, and was renovated in 1939, 1945, 1960, 2000, and most recently, 2012, when repairs were carried out on the structure. Today, this church remains one of the town’s most important historic buildings, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Title: Webster Methodist Church, Webster, NC (32741166348)
Credit: Webster Methodist Church, Webster, NC
Author: Warren LeMay from Cincinnati, OH, United States
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication
License: CC0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en
Attribution Required?: No