Canterbury is the oldest existing establishment in Mountain Brook. It was organized in 1867 as Irondale Methodist when enough settlers to support the church moved into the area around the Irondale Furnace. The first time the North Alabama Conference met in the Birmingham District was in 1874 in the workshop of the furnace. At that time delegates decided to erect their first church on property donated by Pleasant Hickman Watkins on present-day Hollywood Blvd. west of Mountain Brook Village. The name changed to Union Hill Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1928, when Robert Jemison began developing Mountain Brook, the church was renovated and called the "prettiest country church in the United States," then became Canterbury Methodist Episcopal Church.
This church is the result of the merger of two active churches, Canterbury and Mountain Book Methodist churches. The latter was organized in 1912 as Crestline Community Church, and within the year a sanctuary was erected on Church Street in Crestline Heights. In 1942, a renovation greatly improved the building and the name changed to Mountain Brook Methodist Church. That building is now Steeple Arts. In 1948, under the encouragement of the membership of both churches, a new church was formed. The site selected was formerly a cow pasture of Bearden Dairy. The first service in this new church was Oct. 12, 1952 with 900 members. Today the church has grown by man stages and membership is over 4300.
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