OUR HISTORY
In 1857 the Church of Christ was organized at the log schoolhouse near School Road by minister George Babb. It began with fourteen members from the Smith, Shore, Williams, Spurrier, Davis, Drake, Powell and Neuman families. When the school burned, they moved to a frame building. In 1866 Henry Howe, an evangelist, held a meeting that brought one hundred new members to the church. William Powell was the first superintendent of the Bible school organized at that time.
In 1874 land was purchased in what was part of the Town of Kickapoo, Vernon County and the frame building that is part of the present church was built. The inside arrangement of the original part of the building was a row of seats in the center of the room from the pulpit to the wood stove. On either side of the seats, along the wall, were piles of lumber to sit on. Often, spring seats from the wagons and sleds were brought in to make more seating. On all sides of the church were groves of sugar maple trees that were used for basket dinners that were sometimes followed by afternoon services and an evening service beginning at early candlelight.
In the early 1900s an addition began on the south side of the building. The first Ladies Aid Society was organized in April of 1902 at May Drake's to raise funds for the furnishings inside the new church. The committee was represented by the McEathron, Drake, Moses, and Turner families. The completed addition was dedicated on October 8, 1905 by Elder Milton Wells. The bell was installed after the dedication.
The church held a homecoming each year in October, starting in 1930. Electricity was brought into the building in the 1940s. In the 1950s the Sugar Grove Women's Temperance Union was organized and the Sugar Grove School was purchased for one dollar to be joined to the north side of the church building, The youth organized a group called, "Twelve and Teens," and met for devotions and recreation. In 1957, the centennial was celebrated. The "Sugar Grove Leaf" newsletter was distributed twice a month, starting in 1963. In 1970 a redwood sign was placed along Highway 14 inviting travelers and fellow Christians to our House of Worship. A well was drilled in 1972, a basement addition was dug in 1973 and the front porch was removed so an entry foyer could be framed in. A new piano was purchased in 1977 and a parking area was deeded to the church by the Williams' in 1978. A new organ was purchased in 1979 and space for a driveway around the church was provided by Iza Wanless and family. In 1990 the Williams' donated land for a new parsonage that was built the same year. The pews were replaced in 2004 and the bell tower was replaced in 2006.
