Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church (Harahan, La.)
Biography
Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church was located at 6500 Jefferson Highway, Harahan, Louisiana.
A group of Methodists met on October 24, 1941 to form a new church. An organizational meeting was held at the Harahan City Hall. The charter for the Harahan Methodist Church was validated on November 9, 1941. Rev. Karl Tooke, pastor at Munholland, became the first pastor. Due to the war, building materials were hard to come by. The congregation met in the city hall for about 3 years. Using materials from a building damaged by fire, the first church was built and was dedicated on November 10, 1945. The first full-time pastor was Rev. Robert Jamieson.
A new sanctuary was built in 1952 and the old one was demolished. The congregation of 50 persons met at the Harahan Recreation Center during construction. An educational building was constructed in 1954. The name was changed to St. Paul's Methodist Church that year. In 1956, the parsonage was moved from 663 Grove St. to 128 Magnolia Blvd. In 1976, a new parsonage was acquired at 59 Donelon Dr. in Harahan. A new sanctuary was completed in 1961. The 1952 sanctuary is being used as the Fellowship Hall.
Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church was discontinued and abandoned in 2017.
Source: Timothy Hebert, “The Historical Register of the Louisiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church,” (Louisiana: Louisiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, 2004), page NO-65.