Franklin First United Methodist Church

In 1798, the Methodist Episcopal bishop Francis Asbury sent John Kobler across the Ohio River and into the Northwest Territory "to form a new circuit and to plant the first principles of the Gospel" in the frontier region of the Great Miami River.

[1] In 1825, a permanent Methodist Episcopal Society was formed in the town, with the church building being constructed in 1832.

The new building is "in Gothic style; having buttresses exteriorly and having a steeple which rises 120 feet from the ground".

The congregation decided to align with the mainline Methodist Church (USA).

[3] Construction of the 3-story education building was started in 1954 on land to the south and west of the original church.