The Shaft United Methodist Church has a historical background dating back to the mid 1800's. Many of the early settlers were English, Welsh, and Scotch. They had close ties to Protestantism. Many of these people's ideals were related to the Methodist movement which began to develop the circuit rider ministry. Early local meetings were held in homes during the cold weather and in open clearings in the warm weather. These meetings led to the construction of small plain buildings which served as the basis for the first church congregations.

Frostburg, at the top of George's Creek Valley, began to develop as the largest community west of Cumberland. It was built on the main trail westward from the central east coast. This trail was designated by the U.S. Government as the National Road. Small housing developments began appearing in the George's Creek Valley. The first settlers were connected to farming or forest products for a living.

Shaft, Midlothian, Carlos, Vale Summit, Midland, Wrights Crossing, and Grahamtown were connected directly to the growth of Frostburg. Shaft, Wrights Crossing, and Grahamtown were farming areas and became the first slave plantations developed in the far western part of maryland. The discovery of coal brought a new wave of settlers and villages began to grow.

The ground on which the present church now stands first became important during the time of Indians who lived in the forests and along the streams feeding the Potomac River. The land between George's Creek and Staub Run was said to be one of the most beautiful and pleasant areas in the vicinity. The Indian tribe spent much of the summer fishing and hunting. The forest land west of the area became known as Savage Mountain because the Indians to the west were not as civilized as those connected to the Potomac River basin.

By the 1830's and 1840's, commerce had become more stable and the Frostburg area became more populated. The first church building for Methodists outside of Frostburg was located in Wrights Crossing by 1823. There is an unconfirmed story that this log cabin church was moved first to the Workman farm area and then to the road leading to the town of Lord (Klondyke). It was later sold and the money used to begin the building of Midland Methodist. If this is true, the log building remained in use for various enterprises until years later when some celebrating drunkards burned the building.

The beginning of the Shaft Church predates the 1875 building which is located at the intersection of Shaft Road and Harvey Road approximately 300 yards off State Route 936. The town of Shaft is located 1 mile south of the Main Street/Grant Street intersection in Frostburg. The first ministers were circuit riders. Methodists in Frostburg recognized the need for the small outlying church groups. Travel was hard, making a difficult access to Frostburg. Meschach Frost donated the first altar Bible for the Wrights Crossing church. By 1842, the Frostburg circuit was in existence. It remained that way until 1902 when the Midland circuit was formed. The present Shaft United Methodist Church is a part of the Midland Charge of the Hagerstown District in the Baltimore/Washington Conference.

The original church property was part of a land grant to a businessman from Frederick. It was called the Vale from which the present town of Vale Summit got its name. Vale later became a slave farm with the owner's house sitting just across the road from the site of the present church. By 1850, the land use began to change with the discovery of coal. A shaft was sunk and more settlers moved into the valley. The town of Shaft grew. Many of these new settlers were again English, Scotch, and Welsh bringing Methodist ideals with them from Europe.

Meetings were held at first in private homes. The circuit riding ministers visited these home meetings planting the seeds for the first churches. The first written proof of these "house" oriented meetings is a signed Bible donated for use in 1867. A second Bible, now on display in the present church, was donated by Willard McMillan in 1875.

A deed for the ground on which the present church stands was granted in 1875 by the Borden Mining Company. No other church records can be found until 1904. At that time, Shaft was part of a rural circuit that included Woodland, Carlos, and Allegany church communities. The circuit was well meaning, but poor. Special collections were needed many times to pay the minister's salary. The remainder of the income was given as food and clothing in lieu of salary. Life for parishioners was usually slow with poor living conditions. The miners worked sporadically due to flooding of the mines, buildings burning (at least 3 times), and the general indifference of the owners. Shaft and Woodland, at an unknown time, became part of the Midland Charge.

Many of the church records are missing with the year 1904 providing the first major record of leaders, members, attendance, and financing. The church was in very poor condition in 1904. The superintendent held church in his home until $95.00 could be raised to resurface the roof. The next years were ones of tremendous growth as members attending rose to 130-160 weekly. Amounts collected some weeks were still only $2.00-$20.00, showing the tough living standards of the time period.

The intervening years to the present time has had its ups and downs. Over the years the church has run afoul of religious interpretations. Entire family groups have left the church at various times because of different beliefs. One thing that is dominant throughout the records is that the church has never been overly abundant in finances. Tithing and personal sacrifices to give money or labor, in lieu of money, has kept the church together.

The original Shaft Methodist Episcopal Church was a fundamentalist church. Only in recent years has there been a move away from the old traditions. The Shaft United Methodist Church still remains closely attentive to basic Christianity. As we moved into the late nineteenth century, financing was still a major ongoing problem. Unable to pay a minister a living wage, the church body had to band together with the Midland and the Woodland Church bodiies. In 1996, the Woodland Church closed leaving just Shaft and Midland to provide the necessary financing to continue.

The leadership in the ministry at times has also created problems in both the Shaft and Midland churches. Some ministers have been indifferent to members' religious and social values. Some have had preaching material that was poorly prepared, poorly presented, or never showing up for anything except for services.

Shaft United Methodist Church has been oriented toward mission and evangelic ideals. The church has tried to be a loving, giving, mission-oriented group from the formation of the Temperance Union Club in 1906 which became a model for Allegany County to the present time.

Two pot bellied "frost killers" provided the heat for the church until the 1940's. Since that time, numerous improvements have been made. In the 1950's, an addition was added to the rear of the church for a small classroom and a coal hot air furnace room. This furnace has since been replaced by a gas furnace and central air conditioning. The Shaft Volunteer Fire Company donated the former Borden Shaft School (which sat across the road from the church and dated back to 1890 ) to the church in the late 1950's when the fire company decided to build a fire station in its place. It was moved from its original site across the road from the church and is now attached to the rear of the church and is used as the Sunday School Room, fellowship hall, VBS, and the meeting place for the Ronald Fatkin Learning Center. This building also has a gas furnace and air conditioning. This addition is referred to as the John Kerr Memorial Hall.

The church has almost been totally renovated during the past 40 years. Almost all of this work has been done by church volunteers. Most money for needed materials has been pledged by the church congregation over and above regular giving. In addition, over the years, various fund raising projects have been used to provide the remainder of needed funds. Stained glass windows were installed and a new floor, altar, and walls were done. An A..P.A. system and a new piano/organ were added, A new illuminated outdoor sign was given in memory of a former member. The most recent improvements to the church include a new blacktopped parking area in front of the church, new glass doors in the vestibule leading into the sanctuary, a new sound system which includes audio enhancers for the hearing impaired, and a handicapped-accessible walkway leading into the back of the church. In 2005, a new kitchen was added in the fellowship hall, repacing an antiquated kitchen in the basement.

The help of anyone with other records or knowledge of events or people are invited to direct the material to Selina Smith at selsmith59@gmail.com.

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