Historic church looks to renovate and attract members
By Dana DuGan
The Community Baptist Church, located at 200 S. 2nd Ave., in Hailey, was built in 1880. Consider what the town of Hailey was like then. Mining and ranching were the inspiration in the creation of the towns of Ketchum, Hailey and Bellevue, and there were many smaller mining encampments in the hills. Approximately 200 Chinese lived in the Wood River Valley. Some worked in the mines or for the railroad, while others owned laundries and restaurants. Many grew vegetables that were sold house to house and to grocery stores. In 1883, the Oregon Short Line Railroad was extended to the Wood River Valley.
The roads were dirt, houses sparse, banks, saloons, casinos and brothels lined Main Street, and a few houses of worship existed.
The poet Ezra Pound was born in Hailey in 1885, and just a year later and right up the street, the Methodists built a single-room sanctuary with a unique bell tower. Located at 200 S. 2nd Ave., the church, known since 1929 as the Community Baptist Church, still stands today,
The Methodists and American Baptists did a little property exchange in 1929. The Baptists received deed to the church at Croy and 2nd while the Methodists took over a small church in Fairfield. The original Baptist church at Galena and Silver became the Miners Hall and is now a private residence.
Urged on by its own needs and by the Hailey Historic Preservation Commission, the Community Baptist Church is undergoing much-needed restoration. The church hasn’t been touched since the 1950s when, under the ministry of Joseph Fuld, the church grew in membership and was able to buy two adjoining lots. A new kitchen, restrooms and furnace room were added.
Unfortunately, the congregation is lacking in the necessary funds. However, they were able to secure a matching grant recently from the Idaho Heritage Trust to help with the renovations.
“It’s a project I’ve been involved with for four or five years,” said Hailey resident Joan Davies, who is a member of the Idaho Heritage Trust, Hailey Historic Preservation Commission and a member of the Blaine County Historical Museum board. “It’s a slow-maturing, work in progress. The building, after a snowfall, is just so Currier and Ives – quaint and wonderful and rich with historical character, and I still think it has a lot to give to our community.”
Inspection two years ago by an engineering firm in Boise showed that serious work needed to be done, including repairing the 60-year-old metal roof; sloping the ground away from the structure for water drainage; constructing a concrete frost wall behind the structure; restoring the bell tower; strengthening exterior walls of the sanctuary; and painting the exterior of the facility.
Snowmelt and rainwater have habitually drained through the basement windows of the church, flooding the basement every year to the point where it’s unusable.
“There are bids out for different phases of this work,” said Ken Worthington, a church member and coordinator of the renovation.
The City of Hailey and the Hailey Historic Preservation Commission “want to keep it,” said Diane Dunford, the church’s secretary/treasurer. “It’s an asset to Hailey. We’ve applied for National Register of Historic Places status.”
Though visitors frequently stop by wanting to look inside the old sanctuary, the congregation is small but loyal.
Pastor Dave Cesko, who has been with the church for three years, said growing the church is a matter of maintaining the mission of the church.
“What sets the Baptist tradition apart is the plan of salvation,” Cesko said. “You must be born again. You can have a great fellowship but if you’ve not been saved, you’ve lost it. We’ve built great churches on that basis. We need to ‘go tell it on the mountain,’ door to door, inviting people in.”
With the City of Hailey and the Baptist Convention behind the church renovations, there is some optimism that each stage of renovation will be completed. Already the ground is being prepared for leveling, old trees were removed and a large trench was dug around the southern exterior of the church to expose the rotting pipes and basement windows.
“We hope that people will want to help with donations,” Worthington said. He said materials and volunteer hours would be appreciated, too.
Dunford said she is hoping to recruit a volunteer to help them create a website.
There is an account set up for donations at Mountain West Bank in Hailey. Checks may be sent to Community Baptist Church, P.O. Box 1596, Hailey, Idaho 83333, or people may donate in person on Sundays during the 11 a.m. service.
