160 Madison Ave Elmira

Written by a HistoryForge volunteer:

The First United Church of Christ on Madison Ave hosted their last service yesterday, July 10th.  It is sad to see another piece of our local history disappear.

Many may recall this church as the "German Church" as it was founded nearly 150 years ago by German immigrants settling in Elmira.  Their first official church was located at 456 E Church Street, where the Greater Zion Temple now resides.  

It was in 1899 that the congregation was able to hold services in their current home on Madison Avenue.  This church as well as the parsonage can be seen on the 1903 Sanborn map.  Rudolph Vieweg, the minister in 1910, can be seen with his family at the parsonage on Dewitt Ave.