A brief history of local churches

Often we think of some discovered building seen in our daily travels as simply a structure, but sometimes it is part of a long history. Along Highway 29 near the center of the county are a scattering of churches. Among the variety of denominations represented is the Aldersgate Methodist Church which is rooted in one of our oldest histories.

Religion in early Florida under the Spanish excluded Protestants. In 1821 the new territory under the U.S. was established and that year the Pensacola Mission of Methodists began under Reverend Alex Talley. For the next thirty years a series of lone...