This is the memorial chapel of the Tolt Congregational Church in Carnation, Washington with history on how it came about. The chapel was built in memory of Nan Fullerton Stewart and dedicated in 1938.

FIRE DESTROYS CHURCH

In 1936, the frame church was destroyed by fire.  Plans to rebuild were made immediately.  Land was acquired at the present site on Tolt Avenue between West Morrison and Rutherford Streets.  Mrs. Elbridge H. Stuart had taken an active interest in the project, and following her untimely death in 1936, her husband offered to build a chapel there in her memory.  The story of rebuilding the church is recorded in the Pulpit Bible Record this way:

Tuesday, July 27, 1937, was wet and stormy at Carnation.  The minister and his wife debated about the wisdom of calling in such weather.  However, they decided to go, and since they had never met the Stuarts, who spend their summers at Carnation Farm, the called there.

Mrs. Stuart was at “Nan’s Play House” and welcomed her callers there in a gracious manner.  Mrs. Pendleton told Mrs. Stuart of the fire on December 30, 1936, which had partially destroyed the old Carnation Church building, and of the effort the local people were making to rebuild.  At the conclusion of the call Mrs. Stuart gave the minister and his wife a delicious fruit cake she had made herself.

On Saturday, August 14, Mrs. Stuart called at the parsonage and gave Mrs. Pendleton seventeen dollars toward the new church.  She visited a while and told of her plans to secure the help of Seattle friends and plan for a big garden party at the Farm next year to raise funds to help the church.

The following evening Mrs. Stuart and two friends attended the Sunday evening church service, then being held in the Adventist Church building.  She placed Six Dollars and Fifty Cents on the offering plate, remained after the service and met everybody.  She said she had had a “lovely time.”  That evening she returned home and interested her guests in the work of the little church.

Friday night, August 20, Mrs. Stuart went to bed and quietly passed to the life beyond.  Tuesday afternoon at the Stuart farm home a beautiful service was held in her memory.

Saturday morning, September 4, Mr. E. H. Stuart called at the parsonage, expressing his desire to make a memorial gift to the church in which Mrs. Stuart had become interested.

Monday morning, September 6, Mr. Stuart said he was considering the erection of a memorial chapel in memory of his late wife.  On Wednesday he authorized the minister to present to the church the conditions under which he desired to proceed.  At a called meeting of the Tolt Congregational Church the members voted unanimously to accept Mr. Stuart’s offer.

Ground was broken at a special service on January 30, 1938, and on August 28, 1938 the Nan Fullerton Stuart Memorial Chapel was dedicated.

The church voted to use the Seventeen Dollars given to the church by Mrs. Nan Fullerton Stuart to purchase this pulpit Bible to be used on the lectern.

HT: Tolt UCC History

Dear and I walked along Tolt Avenue (Highway 203) in Carnation last week. The city of Carnation used to be called Tolt.

“Carnation (previously Tolt), a rural community along the Snoqualmie River in eastern King County, was founded early in the settlement of the county. The town was named after the world-famous Carnation Dairy, a dairy operation that located in Tolt in 1910.”

I have some great signs to share in the future from our walk along Tolt Avenue.

Hope your weekend is going well. Mine is filled to the brim with a variety of emotional events. Joyful things and hard things and mundane things all mixed in. I’ve got a hunk of meat in the slow cooker. I’m delivering some lunch to some loved ones working hard today. Looking forward to a Baby shower later tonight. The shower is for a little Warrior baby who is fighting hard in the NICU. He started out at 1#7oz. and is now over 5#’s but still needs lots of prayer and care. Another close family member is in Intensive Care after a massive heart attack.

Praying “thy kingdom come, thy will be done” and singing “Abide With Me”.

…Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21.

 Linking up to InSPIREd Sunday with Beth and Sally.