Neel UMC will celebrate its 125th anniversary with special services Sun., Oct. 18. | Special to the Enquirer

Clif Knight

Hartselle Enquirer

Neel United Methodist Church will celebrate  its 125th anniversary on Sun., Oct. 18, with a worship service, covered dish dinner and a singing in the afternoon.

The worship service will be at 10:30 a.m. with Pastor Scott Reeves  preaching. Lunch will follow in the fellowship hall and a gospel singing, featuring Sonny Jones and the Cavaliers, will be at 1:30 p.m.

Rev. Reeves and members of the congregation extend a warm welcome to the public.

The church was organized by 13 families in 1890. They met in a one-room frame building, located in a field on the east side of the road that connects Ironman and Danville Roads, on land donated by a Breedlove family. Lumber used in the building was hauled by mule and wagon from Somerville.

The congregation walked to church,  rode a horse or mule, or came in a buggy or wagon. In the winter,  the church was heated by a cast iron wood stove and the first family to arrive was responsible to build a fire.

A few years later, the congregation decided to relocate to the center of the Neel community. A new building was constructed in 1911 on land acquired from James Roberts. Money was scarce, so it took two to three years to complete the building.