Community Corner
Readers' Choice Winner: Oakton United Methodist
Readers vote Oakton United Methodist Church as the best historical landmark in Oakton
Congratulations to for winning our Readers' Choice contest to find the .
With 53 percent of the votes, Oakton UMC — sometimes referred to as "the friendly church on the corner" — edged out second-place Vale Schoolhouse by 103 votes after a back-and-forth battle throughout the week.
"We love the fact that people have chosen Oakton United Methodist Church as favorite historical landmark in Oakton!" wrote Lois Hidalgo, who alerted fellow church members of the Readers' Choice poll, in an email to Oakton Patch. "The members of OUMC are proud of the heritage of OUMC, and it is a very visible landmark in Oakton. Over the years, many people who have never even visited OUMC, have called the church office to ask if they can be married in our historical chapel."
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Voters considered the following historical landmarks:
- Appledore/Poplar Vale, 3000C Fox Mill Road, c. 1806
- Gabrielson Gardens Park/Great Crest, 2514 Leeds Road, 1950
- Oakton School, 2841 Hunter Mill Road, 1897
- , 2923 Gray Street, 1905
- , 2951 Chain Bridge Road, 1898
- Squirrel Hill, 3416 Lyrac Street, c. 1706
- , 3124 Fox Mill Road, c. 1885
- , 11528 Vale Road, 1896
After overcoming a storm that blew down the walls as the church was being built, members Oakton Methodist Episocopal Church, as it was then called, dedicated the sanctuary in October 1898.
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The membership began to grow rapidly in the 1940s, prompting the church to build its first education building at some point between 1947 and 1953. Looking to expand even further, the church purchased the land behind the original plot and built a new sanctuary with funds raised through two buiding drives.
The new sanctuary held its first services in July 1956, but the original building still stands.
"The history of Oakton United Methodist Church involves families — key families that formed Oakton. If you were to interview some of our older members, you would find they are related to the 'founding families' of Oakton," wrote Hidalgo, who has been a member since moving to Oakton in 1964, married her husband in the church and watched her daughter marry there, as well. "Comparing the history of Oakton, and our church history — there are many many 'crossovers.'"
To read more about Oakton United Methodist Church's history, click here.
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