This geocache is placed with permission from the New Baden United Methodist Church.
The lighthouse will guide you to the geocache. This cache should be a quick park and grab, but Sunday mornings will make muggle avoidance almost impossible. It is a small cache but should be large enough for smaller swag and trackables.
Building History:
The New Baden United Methodist Church was organized July 21, 1902 in a small white church building on Railroad Avenue. The original building was used for over twenty years until the congregation grew too large for the facility. On April 3, 1922, Rudolph Hertenstein deeded the two lots to the congregation on which the current building now stands. The contract proposal was awarded on July 9, 1922 to build the new church for $12,200.00. The New Baden church building was completed in the spring of 1923. The congregation installed pews, windows, lighting fixtures, and various other items in the new church. By the time all was said and done, the finished building project was completed for a cost of $17,252.54.
The new church building was dedicated as the First Methodist Episcopal Church of New Baden, Illinois on Sunday, May 17, 1925, with Bishop Joseph Berry of Philadelphia and Pastor S.A. Matthews officiating. In 1990 a parsonage to accompany the church was built.
Over the years, the church building has been remodeled several times, including the enclosing of the front steps in the foyer, the addition of air conditioning units, the building of a black-top finished parking lot, and the installation of a lift.