The Churches of Alva

The Christian Church

The Congregational Church (Click image for larger view)

The Presbyterian Church

The Old Union Church

First Preaching in Alva -- The first sermon ever preached in Alva (or Woods county, so far as the Alva Pioneer knew in 1904) was preached at 11 a.m. Sunday, September 17, 1893, by Rev. F. P. Semands, a Missionary Baptist minister from Kiowa, Ks, and he stood on a box at the front (north end) of the U. S. Land Office building and delivered a splendid address to a bery large audience. The Alva Pioneer newspaper was unable to learn the present address of of Rev. Semands back in 1904 or get his photograph for their "souvenir" edition printed in January 1904. Some claim that Rev. Cain, a Baptist minister from Medicine Lodge, preached in the forenoon, and Rev. Semands in the afternoon of the same day but the Alva Pioneer newspaper had no doubt that Rev. Semands was the first.

The United Brethen

Oklahoma Church Statistics

Information taken from the 1904 Souvenir Edition - of the Alva Pioneer, Friday, Jan. 1, 1904, Vol. 11, No. 16, Alva, Woods Co., Oklahoma. W. F. Hatfield, Publisher Daily and Weekly Pioneer editor, sold the "Souvenir Edition" in 1904 for 50-Cents. It was printed to celebrate Alva's 10th anniversary since the opening of 1893.

Alva Pioneer 1904 Links
Agitator & Oklahoma Run
U. S. Land Office
Alva Tidbits of 1903
1904 - Early Recollections
1st Bridge & Frame Building
Oklahoma Broom Corn
Oklahoma Beats the World
Scott Cummins, Pilgrim Bard
Tenderfoot Girl in the West
In Oklahoma - Early 1900 poem
Woods Co. Schools - 1904
Alva Pioneer Staff
1st Newspaper
The Scramble for Land
Eagle Furniture Store & Undertaking
1904 Letter to Editor - John Culver
Summary - Annual Report 1903