About The Magalia Community Church

In the 1850's Susan Bassett came to the trading post with her husband to mine for gold. She brought her dogs with her. Every miner wanted a pup to fill the lonely life and soon there were more dogs than miners. The town soon became known as Dogtown.

In 1857, Dr. Buffum applied to the US postal Department for a post office. The name that was picked was Magalia which is the name that stuck. No one knows why Magalia was picked or if it was a misspelling of the name Magnolia. At any rate, the town has been Magalia ever since.

Albert Samuel Parsons, a circuit-riding preacher from Cherokee, moved to Magalia in 1895 and began building a small church near Coutolenc Road and Skyway. No one knows why but he only got as far as building the four walls and the windows. The interior of the building was still unfinished a few years later when he moved away. The owner of the property Mr. George McLean asked that the church be removed. There are several different accounts of where the church was actually located One source said it was located close to Whiskey Flats, another says at the Y where Coutolenc and Old Skyway meet. One favorite is that it was really in the town of Magalia which can be found at the bottom of Paradise Lake.

About that same time, Miss Carrie Brydon arrived in Magalia from Canada. She was a virtuous temperance lady and was horrified to discover that the cousin she was staying with was not only the town blacksmith, but the town drunk. She was a determined and resourceful lady. Her goal was to restore some decency in this wild mining town and she realized a church was needed to shed some Godly influence. Miss Brydon found the old shell of the church and felt it should be moved to a site more centrally located to where the town was developing. A lot was donated by the Perry family. Annie Warren and Lottie Burnside raised $600, Annie Bidwell donated $200 and the Crew family donated $100 for the project. The building was dismantled piece by piece and rebuilt in a new location off Old Skyway on Glover Lane. The money raised was used to finish the interior, add a rood, vestibule, and a belfry and steeple. The building was dedicated Easter of 1904. It remained in place until a rainy day in spring of 1993 when the chapel was again moved "down the road a piece" on Old Skyway, where it stands today.

There have been few changes in the building over the years. The windows are from the 1890's, it houses the original bell (as well as an old school bell), and the pump organ, purchased from Annie Bidwell for $50, is still on the platform. As the congregation grew, the sanctuary was enlarged by adding onto the back of the building, creating a raised platform and freeing the entire original floor space for seating. Carl Worthington, a member and treasurer of the church, was instrumental in getting the Chapel added to the register of historic sites by the U.S. Department of Interior on August 21, 1982.

Annie Warren was caretaker of the building for many years and many preachers served the community as the years went by. Francis and Ruth Abken became its pastors in 1951 and served until retirement in 2000. In 2001 Wes and Donna Bristol took over the pastorate and served through 2011. The church was pastored by Kevin and Sandy Lindstrom from 2011-2022. It is currently being pastored by Jay Bush. 

A large hall with commercial kitchen was built near the historic chapel to meet the needs of the growing congregation, and is also used for many community group functions. The adjacent "firehouse" was annexed to the campus and is used for many functions and by community groups. The lower level of the church property is being developed as an amphitheater/field. The historic chapel will remain in place and will be maintained for regular church services, weddings, funerals, etc.