During the last years of the 1840’s, a Methodist Church was organized in the Rough and Ready community south of Monticello. Around 1850, the church was moved to Monticello and services were conducted in the Courthouse. The first building, built in 1853, was located just north of the present library on South Main Street.


This church antedated the organization of the Monticello District by two years. In the beginning, the church was a part of the Pine Bluff District, and the Mt. Pleasant Circuit, becoming a charge in 1859.

In 1890, a new building was erected. Additional land was purchased in 1907 for a third building completed in 1911. This building was “Monticellonian” in architectural design and featured a water-driven pipe organ—necessary because electricity was available only in the evenings.