Read time: 5 min.

I’ve been tracking the fight to save Little Salamonie Christian Church -often called the first congregation in Jay County- for a month now. On January 14, social media lit up: the church was about to be torn down. Late last Sunday, a new post warned that wrecking crews would roll in the following morning! The call went out- bring your trucks, your tractors, and your farm equipment. Circle the church. Form a barricade! It was urgent, scrappy small-town resistance, and I wanted to be there.

Known variously as Lower Salamonie Church¹, Salamonie Christian Church², or by several other names depending on who you ask, members of Little Salamonie first met at what started as the “Church of Portland” in John G. Spade’s barn in 1839. During winter, they met in his cabin³. 

Ebenezer Allen donated land for a new church south of John Spade’s barn in 1843. The following year, the name of the chapel was changed to Little Salamonie in reference to the nearby river⁴. Although some sources say the present sanctuary dates to the congregation’s founding in 1839, I don’t believe it. More likely, the present church was built in 1886 since the congregation celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 1911⁵. 

Unfortunately, the chapel had been shuttered for several years before a new slate of members reconvened under a new pastor in 2015⁶. That arrangement didn’t last. The Trustees of Little Salamonia transferred the property to Little Salamonia Cemetery Association under a quitclaim deed in 2021⁷. 

I knew the old church needed significant repairs, especially to the roof and belfry. It was work that seemed beyond what the cemetery association could realistically afford⁸. What’s less clear is how those challenges turned into a decision to demolish the building altogether. Several board members have since said they were not properly notified of any vote or agreement to tear down the historic structure⁹. 

That’s how the call to ring the church with tractors and pickups was born. I went to bed half-serious about driving out the next morning, Tiananmen Square style, to see what was really happening. My sister, who’s covered protests for professional journalistic projects, said she’d come along. Our “plan,” if you could call it that, involved camping chairs, vapes, cans of tea, and a front-row seat waiting for the backhoe to show up. 

Fog slowed us down a couple of hours, but we went anyway. Halfway to the church, a friend texted: excavators were on site. We pulled in minutes later, ready for chaos, but found, well, nothing. The church stood untouched. There were no protestors, no backhoes, no wrecking ball idling in the wings, and certainly no ring of farm equipment blocking Little Salamonie from destruction.

Sally and I parked in the cemetery and refreshed social media, waiting for updates that never came. Had the showdown already happened? Or had we all braced for a battle that never arrived? Traces of heavy-duty treadmarks marred the property. As it turns out, though, we missed it on both sides of the clock. 

Someone did meet the excavators at dawn. Apparently, the sheriff was called. The problem was deemed a civil dispute. The tension fizzled, and the crews left. By the time Sally and I had moved on, a WANE-TV truck rolled in. The friend who texted me gave an interview, and the story was slated to air that night. I’m writing this ahead of time, so I’m not sure if it made the broadcast. If it did, though, I’ll provide an update. 

For now, Little Salamonie Christian Church still stands- roof sagging, belfry in need of repair, but upright. The excavators left, the dust never flew, and a building that’s weathered more than a century of Indiana seasons gets at least one more sunrise. Whatever happens next, the near-standoff proved something important: even an empty, complicated old church can rally a community in a matter of hours. I’ll be watching to see what its next chapter holds.

Update: here’s a link to the WANE-TV story.

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 (See footnote 3). 
5 Members of Salamonia Church Which Celebrated Twenty-Fifth Anniversary (1911, January 27). The Muncie Star. p. 6. 
6 Cline, V. (2014, September 4). Pastor felt drawn to little church.  The Portland Commercial Review. Web. Retrieved January 14, 2026. 
7 Parcel 38-07-34-300-017.000-033 (2026). Office of the Assessor. Jay County [Portland]. Web. Retrieved January 14, 2026. 
8 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.
9 BREAKING | Little Salamonia Church Facing Demolition – As Early As Tomorrow Morning (2016, February 15). County Pulse News. Page. Facebook.