Methodist Church
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Town Meeting Hall (Methodist Church)
1866. North side of Court St.
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(Photograph by Julie Nicoletta)
The construction of the former Methodist church is related to one of the more interesting mining stock swindles in Nevada's history. After an unsuccessful attempt to gather donations from his congregation, the minister turned to local interests, who gave him mining claims. He then created the Methodist Mining Company and went east to sell stock in order to raise capital to build the church. Fortunately the church was erected before the stock venture collapsed.
The brick edifice is one of three churches in Austin dating from the nineteenth century. Typical of church architecture in most mining towns, the building is solid and simple, with a few details such as the double-bracketed cornice on the tower. In the 1980s the town converted the building into a meeting hall.
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