HSU Library Special Collections catalog number 1999.02.0105

Southwest view (12th and H Streets). Photograph by A. W. Ericson, circa 1895. The first church in Humboldt County was established by the Methodists and Reverend Asa White. The Methodist Society got its start in July of 1850 when White set up his blue tent on the southeast corner of the Plaza in Arcata (then Uniontown). The Church on the corner of 12th and H streets was then built in 1866. The small building next to the church was a parsonage built in 1875. After 20 years the building was sold and moved. This and the next photograph were probably made within seven to ten years of one another; both taken from the same vantage point providing a unique opportunity to see change within a relatively short time. In the later photograph we can see the parsonage has been removed and dozens of electric lines are visible. information from: -A Bell Rang in Uniontown, The First Hundred Years of Arcata and Its Methodist Church, 1850-1950 by Gayle Karshner, 1994.