The Fund, a subsidiary of Preservation Delaware, Inc., made a grant of $500 each to help with efforts to maintain the Saxton Methodist Church in Bowers Beach, the train station in Wyoming and a rail traffic control tower in Harrington.

    The Saxton Methodist Church was built in 1879 in Saxton Grove, west of what is now Bowers Beach. In 1893, the church building was literally cut in half and moved by oxen to a site close to its present location. Unfortunately the site proved to be in an area prone to frequent flooding, and so the church had to be moved again in 1998.

    Calling the grant “a wonderful help,” church member Don Lillyquist said the $500 will be added to a collection the church congregation has been raising to make repairs to the building. Specifically, he hopes to use the money to repair the church’s cedar siding, which has been damaged over the years by repeated flooding.

    The church’s small congregation, numbering only about 30 active members, has worked hard to raise the necessary cash.  About $240 was donated on one recent Sunday, including a $100 contribution from a donor descended from William A. Boyce, Jr., who is memorialized in the church’s only stained-glass window.

    To date, efforts such as yard sales, soda can collections and a town-wide garage sale have raised about $11,000. The town’s youth group also volunteered to help clean up after a recent Nascar event, and donated their earnings to the fund.

    “Anything we can do to make a dollar,” said Lillyquist.

    The need for restoration work is obvious. Despite the church being given  as much attention as possible, the building shows its age. With one exception, all the windows are permanently closed. The building needs a refurbished heating and cooling system, an updated electrical system and work to repair cracks and crumbling plaster.

    The building also has a beautiful, original cathedral ceiling, Lillyquist said. Unfortunately it is hidden by a more modern ceiling, which Lillyquist would like to see removed, with the original work restored.

    “But that’s a project for another day,” he said. Essential repairs must come first.

    During the 100 years the church has stood at the corner of Church and Main Streets, it has been the victim of flooding whenever the area was hit by storms or heavy rains. Parishioners have had to replace the church organ twice; Lillyquist is hoping a third replacement won’t be needed.

    In 1998, the church building was moved about ten feet to the west, which helped keep it out of the way of the town’s fire trucks, housed next door. It was also set on a new foundation, about five feet higher than the old one. This has helped shield the church from more floodings, such as those brought on by Hurricane Floyd in 1999. 

    Floyd’s wrath hit the town hard, Lillyquist said.

    “You could run a motorboat down the street, right up to the church,” he said.

    Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990, the church has not only fostered its congregation’s devotion to God, but has inspired a devotion to the building itself.

    “I love this church,” says Anya-Deane Best, 20, Lillyquist’s step-daughter.  “I think we should take good care of it.”