Old Hay Bay Church National Historic Site of Canada

Old Hay Bay Church was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1999 because:

• it was built in 1792 by United Empire Loyalist settlers, and is associated with the province’s early days of settlement and with the Methodist’s contributions to Upper Canada’s early social and political development;
• it is the oldest surviving Methodist building in Canada, it was a significant station on the first Methodist circuit in Upper Canada and was the site of the first camp meeting in Upper Canada and;
• because the Methodists were also the largest of the three groups that joined together in 1925 to form the United Church of Canada, it is also significant in the history of that national organization.

Old Hay Bay Church is of simple design, first built in 1792 as a meeting house in the early days of Upper Canadian settlement when communities were small and isolated, and waterways were the main form of transportation. Its pioneer meeting house character is greatly reinforced by its site and the unspoilt rural setting. The church was conceived as a public space used for both secular and religious meetings although its internal arrangements reflected its religious priorities. Despite some changes, the church still retains the essential characteristics of the pre-1840 evangelical meeting house, as it was developed in Britain, New England and modified in Upper Canada. Enlarged in 1835, Old Hay Bay Church closed as a regular place of worship in 1860 and becoming a farm storage area. In 1910 it was reacquired and restored by the Methodist Church. It currently houses a museum and is still used for annual services by the United Church of Canada.