The Church
By 1787, Methodist Circuit Riding Preachers were traveling throughout this vast wilderness region with a Bible and a saddlebag, ministering in frontier settlements. At Middle Creek, open-air revivals known as camp meetings were held beneath a sprawling tree for weeks at a time. People camped or built log huts for temporary shelter. By 1822 this site became widely known as Middle Creek Camp Ground, the foundation for the Middle Creek United Methodist Church. Historians say that in 1844 John and Asa Trotter donated land to the camp ground, and again in 1851 for the building of a church. Middle Creek Cemetery graves date back to the early 1800s.
Lightning struck the church steeple in 1913, ran down the corner to the foundation and split the cornerstone. Spence Lawson, secured by ropes, repaired the steeple, and Luther Roberts hauled rocks in a horse-drawn wagon to secure the foundation.
Modernization came to Middle Creek when the church was wired for electricity in the mid-1940s, replacing a carbide system for lighting. By 1951, space for a furnace was carved from the limestone beneath the church.
The Community
the settlement in Middle Creek was a thriving one. Dr. William Harrison Trotter practiced medicine in an office on the lawn of his handsome two-story Greek
Revival-style home constructed in 1848 in the Middle Creek community. Country stores included the Joe Roberts Store, the George Fox store (later operated by Mr. Stewart Trotter), and the Bob Marshall store.
By 1919, a passenger/freight train was traveling through Middle Creek. Three train stops were at the Amos Trotter farm, the Bob Rambo farm, and near the Middle Creek United Methodist Church. Early history indicates that the Middle Creek Post Office was at the home of Mr. Tilmon Fox, then at the George Fox Store.
Middle Creek Academy, "known as the outstanding school of the county," was built near the church in the 1850s on land donated by William Harrison Trotter. The academy was destroyed by fire during the Civil War, was rebuilt, and continued to rank high in education. Once the academy closed in the mid-1960s, the land on which it sat was presented to the Middle Creek United Methodist Church.
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