Churches and Places of Worship
Union Mission Church, Kirk's Ferry

On July 13, 1898, a group of subscribers to the "Church Building Fund" recorded their first official meeting to oversee construction of a building and passed a resolution providing for its shared use among different Protestant denominations. A local farmer donated the land where it was built, but most of the subscribers were summer cottagers attracted to the scenic Gatineau area that had become more easily accessible since construction of a railroad from Ottawa. The first Service was held in August 1898. Once built, year-round residents as well as the summer tourists attended church services there, and during the week it served as the local elementary school.
In 1927, a massive hydroelectric project on the Gatineau River raised the water level and flooded the main street and much of the original village of Kirk's Ferry, including the church. A. Ferguson Brown, one of the trustees, donated a 100-foot square lot at 16 Brown Road. The former building was not moved, but the Gatineau Power Company paid for a fine new church faced with white clapboard, roofed with green shingles and crowned with a small steeple. The new church functioned only in the summer, with services alternating between Anglican and United Church.
In 1979, the last regular weekly summer services were held. A very heavy spring snowfall in 2002 caused the part of the roof to caved in and the church was demolished. In 2011 the original steeple, refurbished and painted, was mounted on a raised cement base on the site and named the Chelsea's Union Mission Church Park.
Additional resources:
Chelsea's Union Mission Church Park
- Low Down Articles articles
- Text Bank clippings
- Image Bank images
List of Gatineau Valley Churches.