Yesterday morning, a flurry of posts lit up social media with unsettling news: the Little Salamonie Christian Church in Jay County was about to be torn down. I grabbed my camera and keys. An hour later, I was standing in front of the old church, trying to take in as much as I could before it slipped from the landscape for good.
Known variously as Lower Salamonie Church1, Salamonie Christian Church2, or by several other names depending on the source, the Little Salamonie Church is often cited as Jay County’s first congregation. According to tradition, members initially gathered at what started as the “Church of Portland” in John G. Spade’s barn in 1839. During winter, they met in his cabin3.
Confusingly, other accounts place the congregation’s formal beginning two years later4. Like many early frontier churches, Little Salamonie’s origin story is shaped as much by memory and local lore as by surviving records.
What is known is that Ebenezer Allen donated land for a new church three-quarters of a mile south of John Spade’s barn in 1843. The following year, the name of the chapel was changed to Little Salamonie Christian Church in reference to the nearby river5.
Although some sources say the present sanctuary dates to the congregation’s founding in 18396, I would eat one of the number of hats that I own if that were actually the case. I don’t believe it! Hereabouts, rural constructs from the 1830s and 1840s tended to be log cabins, not frame or brick constructs. I could be wrong, but it’s more likely that the present church dates to 1886 since the congregation celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 19117.
Unfortunately, Little Salamonie went through a turbulent history. In 1930, it reopened under the stewardship of Reverend Hosea Arnett of Portland. In 1970, it was affiliated with the United Church of Christ, which wanted the building closed after weekly attendance fell to fewer than twenty people8.
The chapel had again been shuttered for several years before it reopened under a new pastor in 20149. Unfortunately, it seems that the arrangement didn’t last: today, the building is owned by the Little Salamonia Cemetery Association10, but damage to its steeple and roof appear to be too expensive to fix without a congregation to fund it11. It’s a real shame.
In the end, Little Salamonie’s story is a familiar one as a gathering place that outlasted the people who sustained it. Soon, the building will exist only in photographs, memories, and a few scattered lines in old records. That’s exactly why pausing to notice it one last time felt important.
Sources Cited
1 Retain School Bus Drivers at Montpelier (1952, August 16). The Muncie Star. p. 5.
2 Members of Salamonia Church Which Celebrated Twenty-Fifth Anniversary (1911, January 27). The Muncie Star. p. 6.
3 Church To Observe Centennial (1939, August 11). The Muncie Star. p. 9.
4 Church To Observe Centennial (1939, August 11). The Muncie Star. p. 9.
5 (See footnote 4).
6 Cline, V. (2014, September 4). Pastor felt drawn to little church. The Portland Commercial Review. Web. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
7 Members of Salamonia Church Which Celebrated Twenty-Fifth Anniversary (1911, January 27). The Muncie Star. p. 6.
8 Shepherd, S. (1970, April 26). Some Rural Jay Churches Winning Fight for Survival. The Muncie Star. p. 52.
9 Cline, V. (2014, September 4). Pastor felt drawn to little church. The Portland Commercial Review. Web. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
10 Parcel 38-07-34-300-017.000-033 (2026). Office of the Assessor. Jay County [Portland]. Web. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
11 Rickner, R.R. You might be from Portland Indiana if… (20126, January 14). IDid you know they voted to tear down the first church in Jay County last night. The Little Salamonia Church. [Status]. Facebook.
