HomeTown – 06 – Another Home

If there’s one thing that dominates the downtown of Milton is the churches, there are three historic churches and one new one that occupies the main street. This one is mine; I can say that because Knox Presbyterian Church is where I was raised other than at my childhood home. And today I still attend and help lead the congregation. The history of Prebyertians in Milton stretches back to the early days of the town’s first expansion in 1840. The first Presbyterian church in Milton, St. Andrew’s, saw the establishment in 1846 as a branch of the Church of Scotland. I say that only because this happened post-great schism which saw a split and the formation of the Free Presbyterian Church. Several other churches from both branches were being founded in the area. The congregation that I’m a member of today grew out of Boston Presbyterian Church in 1855 as part of the Free Church. They would be a joint congregation or dual charge, with a single minister and Session. The original building (which still stands on Martin Street as Graceway Baptist Church) saw construction between 1856-7 and opened for worship on the 25th of February 1857. The name of Knox did not come until 1866. Knox along with St. Andrew’s (Milton) both became part of the Presbyterian Church in Canada in 1875 with the Union of the two branches. Knox Milton would split from Boston in 1887. Surprisingly St. Andrew’s continued to operate until 1889 when they joined Knox. Also the old church, or Old Kirk, still stands in Milton today as a house on Mill Street. With a growing congregation, the Session began to investigate the purchase of a new property to build a new church. The Session approved a lot on Main Street in March of 1890. William Stewart, an architect from Hamilton, designed a grand Gothic Revival church. By September that year, the cornerstone had been laid in a grand ceremony with the Deputy Grand Master of the local Freemason Lodge. The new Knox was dedicated on the 28th of June 1891. It wouldn’t be until 1893 that the original building on Martin Street was sold off to the Federal Government to become an armoury for the Canadian Army. The Old St. Andrew’s saw continued use until 1900. The stained glass windows that decorate the sanctuary were added throughout the years. But most notably is that the roof nearly collapsed and rather than let the congregation do the same, we rallied, we raised money, we worshipped in the basement, and now are back in a restored sanctuary. This is the church my brother and I were baptised and his two daughters also. And I was married here, it remains a second home. My inspiration for this photo comes from a historic photo of the church taken in 1915. Which is why I didn’t choose to use a wider angle lens or try to get the entire building into the image. I may still try that one day if I can borrow a friend’s homemade technical camera. Instead, I decided to work with the oldest lens that sees regular use my 203mm Kodak Ektar that dates to the late 1940s. Much has changed in the 105 years between the images from the removal of the chimneys during the restoration work done, the signs, the trees, and more have all changed. But the church, it’s still there. And even though we’re not worshipping in the building, we’re still worshipping together, visit us online and see how you can join us!