Moment in Time (originally submitted to ThisWeek News for publication October 27, 2004)

The first church in Grandview Heights was a Methodist sunday school building erected in 1892 at 5th and Grandview Avenue. In 1902 the Fifth Avenue Methodist Church (inset) was built on the northwest corner of Fifth and Starr Road (North Star Blvd.). The church was later relocated to Oakland Avenue near First. The Fifth Avenue Church was later used by an African-American congregation, and was home to Apple Veterinary. In 1910 the residents of Grandview decided they needed an additional church in the community, and voted to make it a Congregational church, not affiliated with any single denomination. Fred Brownlee was the first minister of the Grandview Congregational Church (above, dedicated in 1911), which would later become First Community Church.