700 East Park Street
The Methodist Church - The first Methodist services in Riverton were held in 1907 by Rev. William L. Carter, who was the Lander Methodist pastor, who made frequent missionary trips to the new town of Riverton. Rev. Carter was succeeded by Rev. Gillespie, whose efforts made it possible to acquire the property for the Church building. The Methodist Church's cornerstone was placed on September 27th, 1915 and the first service was held on April 29th, 1917.
The original building looked much different than the building you see today due to major remodeling done from 1950-1952 including additions of the tower on the left hand side of the building and a porch on the side entrance. However, due to a growing congregation, the church leaders and congregation decided to sell the building in 1959. On December 27th, 1960, St. Paul's United Church of Christ purchased the property and kept it for eight years.
The Riverton Museum Committee was approached with the idea of using the building for a museum and the building was purchased including most of the contents intact. Changes were made to the building to make it more accessible to the public and the Museum opened its doors for the first time in August of 1970.
Tidbit:
- In September of 2015, the stained glass window at the top of the front of the building was removed and given to the Methodist church for their 100 year celebration.
